In the Secondary Market, WeWork Already Was Trading at a Lower Valuation

The withdrawal of WeWork parent’s initial public offering after its $47 billion private valuation wouldn’t have come as a surprise for investors watching its performance in the secondary market.

Shareholders of We Co. were hard-pressed to find private buyers in the secondary market willing to pay even half of the high valuation SoftBank Group Corp. paid earlier this year, according to people familiar with the matter.