John Santora is the Chief Executive Officer of WeWork, a leading global flexible space provider. WeWork was founded in 2010 to create environments where people and companies come together to do their best work, and today operates hundreds of locations around the world.
Prior to joining WeWork in June 2024, John spent 47 years at Cushman & Wakefield. Most recently he served as the firm’s Tri-State Chairman. Before that, John was President of the Tri-State Region where he was responsible for driving forward the execution of Cushman & Wakefield’s strategic plan for the Region. A 40-year veteran of the firm, John previously served as Global Chief Operating Officer and Chief Integration Officer for the company.
One of the commercial real estate industry’s most experienced global executives, John has relationships with leading executives of key multinational clients. Prior to the integration, he was CEO of North America, which was Cushman & Wakefield’s largest global operating region. In this role, John further integrated service lines in the regions across Leasing, Capital Markets, Valuation & Advisory and the Corporate Occupier & Investor Services (CIS) group. In 2010, he held the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of Cushman & Wakefield’s CIS group. John was a member of Cushman & Wakefield’s Board of Directors for 20 years.
John currently is a member of the Borough President of Staten Island’s transition team and ongoing advisor. John is a past fellow of the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School, Chairman of the Realty Advisory Board, an active member of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) and the Executive Board of the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), a member of the Board of Trustees for Local 32BJ-Health and Benefit Funds. John attended New York City Community College and the College of Staten Island, majoring in engineering and fire science. He is also a certified Property Manager by the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM), LEED GA.
John sits on the Board of the FDNY Foundation and Richmond University Medical Center. He also serves on a number of non-profit boards and has been the recipient of many prestigious industry and charity honors.
