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Business Matters: WeWork shares jump more than 13 per cent in public markets debut

WeWork shares jump more than 13 per cent in public markets debut

22/10/2021 GMT

BBC World Service - Business Matters, WeWork shares jump more than 13 per cent in public markets debut

The company scrapped IPO plans in 2019 due to investors' business model concerns

Shares of the office-leasing company WeWork closed up more than 13.49 per cent on Thursday, after the company went public through a special purpose acquisition. We hear from Peter Eavis of The New York Times, who has been following the ups and downs of the company. A dispute between Brussels and Warsaw threatens to overshadow a summit for EU leaders. A Polish court recently found parts of EU law were incompatible with the country's constitution, and there have been calls from some quarters to withhold EU funds from Poland in response. Anna Wojcik is a researcher at the Polish Academy of Sciences and editor of the Rule of Law publication, and discusses the background to the dispute. 

The company behind a new cryptocurrency called Worldcoin wants to give away its tokens for free. But in exchange, users have to agree to have their eyes' iris scanned. This is, the website says, to "prove that they are indeed human... and that they have not received their free share of Worldcoin already". But there are already privacy concerns, as we hear from Sam Biddle of The Intercept. 

Shares in the Chinese property conglomerate Evergrande fell by 11.5% when they resumed trading in Hong Kong today. Sherry Fei Ju is a freelance journalist in Beijing, and brings us the latest developments. The Austrian city of Vienna is known for its collection of art galleries and museums. But some of the exhibits, it seems, are a little too racy for some social media networks. So the tourism board is posting images on the website OnlyFans, the only social network that permits depictions of nudity. We hear from Norbert Kettner of the Vienna Tourist Board. Plus, it's the beginning of India's festival season, and our workplace commentator Sandip Roy considers the challenges of trying to work through the mega festival Durga Puja, when millions are on the streets 
partying til dawn. 

All this and more discussed with our two guests throughout the show: Paddy Hirsch, a contributing editor at US National Public Radio, in Los Angeles. And writer Rachel Cartland, in Hong Kong. 

(Picture: A WeWork office building. Credit: Getty Images.)

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