Photo courtesy of WeWork

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that WeWork is being taken over by the Japanese tech conglomerate that invested billions in the company before its botched effort to go public.

The shared-office space company is facing a severe cash crunch with its valuation plunging.

WeWork is the dominant coworking player in Boston, comprising 3.2 percent of tenancy across the 72 million-square-foot office market, and it maintained its aggressive growth strategy during the third quarter. It inked an 87,000-square-foot lease at Manulife’s 200 Berkeley St. in Back Bay, another 106,000 square feet at 75 Arlington St. and 117,000 square feet at 100 Summer St, a tower which was acquired last week by Rockpoint Group for $806 million.

Local real estate researchers predict a WeWork departure coupled with a broader economic downturn could have a dramatic, negative effect on the downtown office market, as Banker & Tradesman reported earlier this week.

The Wall Street Journal, citing sources it did not identify, reported Tuesday that WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann will walk away with close to $2 billion from Japan’s SoftBank Group if he severs most ties with the company.

SoftBank is WeWork’s largest investor, already owning about a third of the company.

Neumann, who resigned as CEO last month, will step down from the board as part of the deal, the paper reported.

He will still own a stake in WeWork and he will serve as an adviser to the board going forward.

WeWork did not immediately respond to a request for comment.