What I don't understand is the multiples at which WeWork was trading.

I could definitely understand the business model (it's cloud computing for real-estate!) and especially cool for remote/business travelers since from what I understand it was rather easy for a WeWork user to use any of their facilities.

People said the same thing about AWS: "Hardware is a commodity, how can they possibly turn a profit renting out hardware?"

It's more that they bill by the capacity used and it's possible to cancel at any time.

Same way a WeWork is more expensive than renting your own real estate but it's probably simpler than getting into a long term lease. Plus if your startup has to scale up WeWork can accommodate, unlike your typical office rental.

You can, if you think of it like a Ponzi scheme.

The pandemic also would have hit them pretty hard had they not semi-collapsed a few months before.