WeWork Default Is a Real Possibility, Fitch Ratings Warns (1)

Fitch Ratings downgraded troubled co-working company WeWork and warned that the once high-flying startup could default on its obligations.

On Thursday, the agency said it lowered the company’s long-term issuer default rating to CCC from CCC+. That indicates “substantial credit risk” and suggests “default is a real possibility,” according to Fitch’s rating scale.

Fitch cited the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on WeWork’s already struggling business model. The startup tried and failed to go public late last year. The spread of the coronavirus worsened WeWork’s predicament as people opted to work from home, rather than in the communal offices ...