(Reuters) -Flexible workspace provider WeWork plans to file for bankruptcy as early as next week, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Shares of the company fell 30% in extended trading after the news.

New York-based WeWork is considering filing a chapter 11 petition in New Jersey, the WSJ report added.

WeWork did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the report.

The company has been in turmoil ever since its plans to go public in 2019 imploded as investors worried over its hefty losses and began to doubt its business model of taking long-term leases and renting them for the short term.

WeWork raised "substantial doubt" about its ability to continue operations in August in a stunning reversal of fortune for a company that was once privately valued at $47 billion.

(Reporting by Manas Mishra and Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)