Why the demise of public markets should have you worried

Too many companies are either not listing or going private, says Merryn Somerset Webb. That diverts the returns to the few, not the many.

WeWork co-founders Adam and Rebekah Neumann © Photo by Taylor Hill/FilmMagic

WeWork isn't working: co-founders Adam and Rebekah Neumann
(Image credit: WeWork co-founders Adam and Rebekah Neumann © Photo by Taylor Hill/FilmMagic)

Bad news for WeWork this week. Turns out the public market just isn't that into it. Investors reckon there is a strong chance that the model (long-term debt on buildings let out to short-term tenants, with a little free beer chucked in along the way) might be unsustainable. Given that chance, they decided that they weren't mad to pay to value the company at the $65bn it originally thought might make sense, or for that matter, even half of $65bn (maybe $15bn but really not much more). The initial public offering (IPO) has been pulled. Perhaps investors are beginning to see sense when it comes to unicorn IPOs (see moneyweek.com for more).

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Merryn Somerset Webb

Merryn Somerset Webb started her career in Tokyo at public broadcaster NHK before becoming a Japanese equity broker at what was then Warburgs. She went on to work at SBC and UBS without moving from her desk in Kamiyacho (it was the age of mergers).

After five years in Japan she returned to work in the UK at Paribas. This soon became BNP Paribas. Again, no desk move was required. On leaving the City, Merryn helped The Week magazine with its City pages before becoming the launch editor of MoneyWeek in 2000 and taking on columns first in the Sunday Times and then in 2009 in the Financial Times

Twenty years on, MoneyWeek is the best-selling financial magazine in the UK. Merryn was its Editor in Chief until 2022. She is now a senior columnist at Bloomberg and host of the Merryn Talks Money podcast -  but still writes for Moneyweek monthly. 

Merryn is also is a non executive director of two investment trusts – BlackRock Throgmorton, and the Murray Income Investment Trust.