Theories abound on this subject. I am dubious of either extreme. I don't think the WTS is haemorrhaging cash and is going to be brought down by a raft of pedo claims. I also don't think the WTS is so cash rich they have it all covered for decades.
I suspect there are a number of things going on.
Firstly they can see that the long term trend is for less cash per head to come in from the congregations. The growth is in poorer countries and so, pro-rata, more shall be needed to be looked after by less. Physical literature is being reduced through (a) less being printed and (b) greater reliance on electronic delivery. Costs reduce of course but so does the nudge that people had to donate each time they picked up literature.
Secondly, they rapidly increased costs in the short term with a number of large building projects. They have also likely spent large sums on the rebrand, JW Broadcasting, animation facilities. They have also been building RTOs like there is no tomorrow.
Thirdly they have sat on a number of assets and been unable to realise their value to fund building programs etc.
Fourthly, they have conducted some kind of internal process review and concluded that they are spending lots of money maintaining hotel facilities for Bethelites. They have also seen the rise in costs for looking after older full time servants and done projections on what this will cost in the next 10-20 years.
Fifthly, they see a real risk of losing tax free status in one or more lands that provide major contributions. They are realising cash now (e.g. forgiving loans in return for donating cash on hand) and preparing for the worst.
Sixthly, I do not discount the reserving of funds to shut up the loudest claimants against the WTS regarding abuse.
I am certain that the GB 2.0 allowed spend to escalate way more rapidly than their predecessors and somewhere along the line realised the problem. They got a quick injection via the hall loan asset grab but now have the real figures on which to plan for the future. They can see the trend and now are cashing in on the property.
They have got rid of loads of full time servants that will be costing them money in healthcare over the next 10-20 years and stopped running hotels.
They are already consolidating halls and I predict further and more severe cuts here too. I do not rule out the compulsory closure of halls with just one congregation and forcing them to share 2-4 congs in a hall.
I predict further reductions in conventions with more use of assembly halls. The move to single days has two benefits. One is to allow greater occupancy and the second is to make the same money in one day that used to be in two days.
As has been pointed out many times now, this is no longer a publishing organisation. It is making it's money out of property. Some of this is buying and selling but they have also sussed that they need to be landlords as well and make the most out of property occupancy.
I could even see them pre-empting unfavourable tax status changes and simply telling the congregations that they own the hall now and charging a rent.
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