WeWork paid rent at 80% of its locations in April and May, Sandeep Mathrani says in first TV interview as CEO

• WeWork paid rent at over 80% of its locations in April and May, CEO Sandeep Mathrani told CNBC on Tuesday.
• In his first interview as CEO, he said the company has collected over 70% of rent from tenants in April.
• The company is working with tenants to defer or freeze rent, he said.
• WeWork tenants previously told Business Insider that they're frustrated paying rent for space they're not using because of the coronavirus.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

WeWork has paid rent at over 80% of its locations in April and May, CEO Sandeep Mathrani said on CNBC on Tuesday.

In his first interview as WeWork CEO, Mathrani said the company is paying rent where it can, and is elsewhere "in discussions with our landlords in a friendly way, and therefore we plan to make whole on our entire obligation."

The company collected over 70% of its April rent from tenants, Mathrani said.

As businesses struggle to stay afloat, many of WeWork's tenants are unable to access their workspaces. While WeWork has remained open, local laws and restrictions in many parts of the country have prohibited nonessential employees from coming to work, including those who work in WeWork offices.

Mathrani said the company is working with small and medium-sized tenants in freezing or deferring their rent payments.

Some WeWork tenants had previously told Business Insider that they were frustrated in paying for space that they were unable to use due to the coronavirus.

He said that coronavirus could lead to businesses wanting more office space, not less, and that WeWork has an edge because its offices' flexible space allow for reconfiguration to accommodate social distancing.

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