Who Owns WeTransfer?

WeTransfer achieved B Corp certification in June 2020, joining a global community of businesses verified by B Lab for meeting standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. The certification was a significant milestone for a technology company and aligned with WeTransfer's founding ethos of simplicity and community focus.

The company committed to carbon neutrality and renewable energy for its data center operations. WeTransfer invested in energy-efficient infrastructure and carbon offsetting programs to reduce the environmental footprint of its global file transfer service. As a purely digital product, WeTransfer has no physical supply chain or manufacturing footprint.

Under Bending Spoons' ownership, the sustainability commitments have come under scrutiny. Bending Spoons' aggressive operational restructuring, including the 75% workforce reduction, raised questions about whether the B Corp values would be maintained. The 2025 AI training controversy, in which WeTransfer used user content to train AI models without clear consent, further tested the company's ethical standing. WeTransfer was forced to backtrack on changes to its terms of service following user backlash.

The B Corp certification status under Bending Spoons' ownership remains an open question for users who valued WeTransfer's original ethical commitments. Bending Spoons has not publicly addressed whether WeTransfer's B Corp certification will be maintained or recertified under the new corporate structure.

WeTransfer has faced significant controversy since its acquisition by Bending Spoons in July 2024. The controversies have centered on workforce reductions, product changes, and data practices that conflict with the brand's original values.

Mass Layoffs (September 2024): Bending Spoons announced plans to lay off 75% of WeTransfer's approximately 350 employees, affecting around 260 staff members. CEO Luca Ferrari stated the company wanted a "smaller, more sharply focused WeTransfer organization." The scale of the layoffs drew criticism from Dutch media, employees, and industry observers who characterized the move as an aggressive acquire-and-fire strategy. Dutch and European labor regulations complicated the implementation, creating delays and requiring negotiation with works councils.

AI Training Controversy (2025): WeTransfer employed user content to train AI models, sparking significant backlash from users who had trusted the platform with their creative files. The company was forced to backtrack on changes to its terms of service that had enabled this practice. The incident damaged user trust and raised questions about data privacy under Bending Spoons' ownership.

Co-Founder Public Criticism (December 2025): Nalden, one of WeTransfer's three co-founders, publicly criticized Bending Spoons in a TechCrunch interview, stating that the company "doesn't really care about people" and that product changes since his departure in 2019 were "killing the product." He launched Boomerang, a competing file transfer service, as a direct response to WeTransfer's perceived decline.

Product Changes and User Confusion: Following the acquisition, WeTransfer made unclear changes to how transfer links work, confusing longtime users. Reduced customer support capacity following the layoffs led to slower response times and user frustration. The combination of product changes, reduced support, and the AI controversy led some creative professionals to migrate to alternative services.