- Wework Chairman Marcelo Claure Shared Pictures on His Instagram Account of His Expensive Pasta Meal One Day After Laying off 2,000 Employees
- He Was Eating at Michelin-Starred New York City Restaurant, Babbo, Who List the Pasta Tasting Menu as $110 per Person
WeWork Chairman Marcelo Claure shared videos of him enjoying a $100 pasta tasting dinner one day after laying off 2,400 employees during the holiday season.
Displayed on his public Instagram story, Claure posted a photo of the Pasta Tasting Menu at the Michelin-starred New York City restaurant, Babbo.
The restaurant’s website says the Pasta Tasting Menu is $110 per person and accompanying wines charge $80 per person.
The photo’s caption says, ‘pasta overdose,’ before segueing into a short video showing a variety of food-covered plates as a servers drizzles oil on one dish.
New York Times reporter Amy Chozick called out the chairman on Twitter, pointing out that just one day prior he laid off a massive chunk of employees – about 20 percent of his work force – on November 21.
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Although the job cuts were anticipated, jobless employees were left to console each other outside the New York office after being axed.
Others responded by downing shots of Fireball Whiskey as they waited to meet the human resources department about their exit packages.
The lay offs are the latest decision by Japanese technology investment company SoftBank, which is providing a $9.5 billion lifeline package to resuscitate the quickly deflating company.
Earlier this year, WeWork was reportedly worth $47 billion, but lost traction after the company filed to go public as critics blasted their financials and leadership.
SoftBank, one of WeWork’s main investors, has also offered to pay former CEO and co-founder Adam Neumann $1.7 billion to depart from the company.
Under Neumann’s direction, WeWork was quickly diversifying into several fields -including setting up a school and running apartment buildings – without a solid trajectory for profits.
In a statement, a WeWork spokesperson said this move is in line with the company’s attempts at efficiency.
‘As part of our renewed focus on the core WeWork business, and as we have previously shared with employees, the company is making necessary layoffs to create a more efficient organization,’ they said.
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Previously, SoftBank reportedly lost $8.9 billion on cash investments with WeWork and other startups in its first quarter loss in 14 years.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi claims the loss is result of poor investments and ignoring problems found in WeWork.
Layoffs began some weeks ago at businesses owned by WeWork in the US and in other parts of the globe.
On November 5, the first round of layoffs began and affected 25 percent of employees at Meetup, a social events app WeWork acquired.
Dozens more were laid off on November 7 form the Flatiron School, a coding bootcamp also owned by the shared-space startup.
Workers were sent home for a three-months garden leave and an extra month’s pay.
WeWork’s ultimate control now rests in the hands of Executive Chairman Marcelo Claure and SoftBank.
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