WeWork Companies Inc.

Originally created as a provider of shared working spaces, the company has increasingly pitched itself as reinventing how work is done. That vision has drawn backers like SoftBank, the Japanese conglomerate, which invested $4.4 billion in WeWork this year (2017). While WeWork normally leases space in commercial buildings, it set up WeWork Property Advisors to buy some property outright. Among the advantages of such arrangements is that the start-up would be able to enjoy any rise in the value of the real estate where it sets up its co-working spaces.