Software Tycoon Anant Yardi Acquires Majority Stake In WeWork
India-West News Desk
NEW YORK, NY – On May 30, Anant Yardi, the prominent software entrepreneur, acquired a majority stake in WeWork following a federal bankruptcy court’s decision to transfer control of the co-working giant to its creditors.
“While Yardi will become the majority owner of the business and is CEO of Yardi Systems, WeWork will be operated separately. Currently, David Tolley is still CEO of WeWork,” said a Yardi Systems spokesperson.”
The Financial Times said Anant Yardi had already invested over $200 million in WeWork less than two years ago through an anonymous vehicle. The acquisition follows the approval of WeWork’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan by US Bankruptcy Judge John Sherwood on May 30. This approval allows the troubled company to eliminate $4 billion in debt and transfer the company’s equity.
The bankruptcy proceedings enabled WeWork to negotiate a substantial reduction in future rent costs from its landlords and cancel leases at about one-third of its locations. This strategic move will save the company over $12 billion in future rent expenses.
Yardi is low profile but highly successful career and ranks among the wealthiest in the software industry. Prior to establishing Yardi Systems, which now generates nearly $3 billion in annual revenue, he worked for 14 years developing programming methodologies and directing systems development at Burroughs Corporation. He received an M.S. in Engineering from UC Berkeley, and a B.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.
He is known to be interested in the intersections of technology and democracy which inspired the establishment of the Yardi Scholarship at UC Berkeley.
