WEWORK SEEKS BANKRUPTCY PROTECTION IN STUNNING FALL FOR A FIRM ONCE VALUED AT CLOSE TO $50 BILLION

WeWork has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, marking a stunning fall for the office sharing company once seen as a Wall Street darling that promised to upend the way people went to work around the world.

In a late Monday announcement, WeWork said it entered into a restructuring support agreement with the majority of its stakeholders to slash the company's debt while further evaluating WeWork's commercial office lease portfolio.

This agreement is expected to erase about $3 billion of WeWork's debt, CEO David Tolley told The Associated Press.

WeWork is also requesting the ability to reject leases for some of its locations, which the company says are largely non-operational, as part of the filing. Just over 70 leases will be rejected right at the beginning of the process, according to Monday's filing. WeWork says all affected members have received advanced notice.

How many WeWork locations will remain operational going forward is not known. Tolley said Tuesday that he expects WeWork to exit additional locations as talks continue with landlords - but hopes to leave as few as possible.

Lease liabilities, which currently account for about two-thirds of WeWork's operating costs, "continues to be the company's primary challenge, Tolley said - pointing to the need of establishing "a more efficient footprint!"

The specter of bankruptcy has hovered over WeWork for some time. The New York company sounded the alarm over its ability to remain in business in August — and soon announced its plans to renegotiate nearly all of its leases in September. But cracks had begun to emerge several years ago, not long after the company was valued as high as $47 billion.