Twitter has 'stopped paying rent on San Fran offices'

Elon ‘stops paying rent on Twitter’s San Fran HQ and offices around world – as he considers NOT paying severance to axed employees’ and sells off woke items in cost-cutting exercise

• Twitter has allegedly not paid rent on its San Francisco headquarters, or office around the world, for weeks
• The news comes as Elon Musk continues  to find every avenue he can to slash costs at the social media company, which he acquired for $44billion in October
• Musk is also reportedly considering not paying out severance to the thousands of employees that have been laid off from Twitter since he took over 

Twitter has allegedly stopped paying rent at its San Francisco headquarters as Elon Musk looks to slash costs across the social media giant.

Billionaire Musk has also supposedly mulled not paying severance to the thousands of employees fired since his $44billion takeover of the company in October.

Sources told the New York Times it’s been weeks since rent was pair at both the San Francisco office and Twitter’s offices around the world.

Musk has been quibbling over nearly every penny since he purchased Twitter. In addition to selling off furniture from the company’s San Francisco office, he has refused to pay unpaid travel costs which were wracked up by employees before he took over.

Elon Musk continues to find every avenue he can to slash costs at the social media company, which he acquired for $44billion in October

Twitter has not paid rent on its San Francisco headquarters (above), or office around the world, for weeks

Twitter has reportedly been trying to renegotiate the terms of its lease with the managing company that owns its San Francisco office building, Shortenstein.

But the relationship does not seem to be going well as Shorenstein and other real estate companies the social media company works for have complained to them, according to the Times, though it is unclear what the complaints were about.

In addition to sending its office supplies and kitchen supplies to auction as a way to save money, the company has also laid off its kitchen staff.

One of the travel expenses Musk has refused to pay included a $197,725 tab for private flights which were taken the very week he took over the company. 

Numerous other travel vendors have also gone unpaid, according to the Times. 

The payment over that private charter bill has gone to court in New Hampshire.

Though Musk initially decided that US employees would receive up to two months of pay and one month of severance to comply with labor laws, he is reportedly reconsidering that idea. 

Sources said Musk is weighing whether to simply pay for lawsuits over cut severance instead of paying its former employees. 

Musk has also already refused to pay out millions to former executives who he said were fired ‘for cause,’ according to the Times. 

Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters, where Musk is auctioning off furniture to make some extra money

Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco. The company has supposedly stopped paying its rent

The Twitter headquarters, located in San Francisco. Twitter is trying to renegotiate its lease

Elon Musk walks through the Twitter headquarters in San Francisco with a sink in his hands

Musk has also threatened lawsuits against employees who speak with the media or ‘act in a manner contrary to the company’s interest,’ according to internal emails obtained by the Times.

And amidst the ongoing Twitter files Musk has been releasing about the company’s efforts towards free speech form before his acquisition, he warned employees that if they leak new information to the press they will be subject to litigation from Twitter.

‘If you clearly and deliberately violate the NDA that you signed when joining Twitter, you accept liability to the full extent of the law and Twitter will immediately seek damages,’ he wrote in an email to employees, according to Platformer.

Yesterday, Twitter dissolved its Trust and Safety Council, the advisory group of around 100 independent civil, human rights and other organizations.

The company formed the council in 2016 to address hate speech, child exploitation, suicide, self-harm and other problems on the platform.

The council had been scheduled to meet with Twitter representatives on Monday night, but Twitter informed the group via email that it was disbanding it shortly before the meeting was to take place, according to multiple of its members.

Elon Musk has been reaching for any means to cut costs at Twitter after his $44billion acquisition

A board room at Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco

Some have speculated that Musk’s drastic cost cutting measures and seemingly trivial office-supply auctions stem from a significant drop in revenue the social media company has faced since he took over

The front door of Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco. Musk has gone so far as to fire the kitchen staff to save costs

The council members, who provided images of the email from Twitter to The Associated Press, spoke on the condition of anonymity due to fears of retaliation. The email said Twitter was ‘reevaluating how best to bring external insights’ and the council is ‘not the best structure to do this.’

‘As Twitter moves into a new phase, we are reevaluating how best to bring external insights into our product and policy development work. As part of this process, we have decided that the Trust and Safety Council is not the best structure to do this,’ the email to members of the council said.

‘Our work to make Twitter a safe, informative place will be moving faster and more aggressively than ever before and we will continue to welcome your ideas going forward about how to achieve this goal,’ said the email, which was signed ‘Twitter.’

The council comprised of various civil rights organizations, academics and other bodies that advocated for safety and advised Twitter as it developed products, programs, and rules, according to a web archive for the page.

The volunteer group provided expertise and guidance on how Twitter could better combat hate, harassment and other harms but didn’t have any decision-making authority and didn’t review specific content disputes.

A Twitter page for the group has been deleted.

Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters seen from a street corner

Get a piece of WOKE history! Elon Musk auctions off liberal crown jewels, including Twitter bird statue, planter shaped like the ‘@’ symbol, Eames chairs, $20k espresso machine, $10k vegetable dryer, $17k braising pan

• Elon Musk is cleaning out Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco by auctioning off thousand dollar items for the starting price of $25 
• Items up for grabs include various office and kitchen supplies, such as a massive Twitter bird statue, a $17K braising pan and $20k espresso machine
• Projectors, pans, ovens and other miscellaneous items are also up for grabs for a 24 hour action beginning on January 17 and ending the next day 

55

View
comments

Elon Musk is now cleaning out Twitter HQ by auctioning off ‘woke’ office supplies, such as a massive Twitter bird statue and other thousand-dollar items starting at $25.

The items from the San Francisco office include valuable luxury items, such as a $20,000 espresso machine, a $10,000 vegetable dryer and a $17,000 braising pan. An ‘@’ shaped planter is also up for grabs, along with chairs, tables and kegs.

Musk, 51, took over the social media giant in a $44 billion deal in October and shrunk the company’s staff from around 7,000 to 2,500 in an attempt to rebrand Twitter and its woke policies.

The billionaire appears to be taking Twitter’s makeover a step further by bidding off several items from the office’s kitchen and workstation starting at either $25 or $50. 

Bidding for the items opens on January 17 at 7am PT and ends the following day at 10am PT.

Elon Musk is cleaning out Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco by auctioning off thousand dollar items for the starting price of $25

One of the items up for grabs includes a massive statue of the famous Twitter logo. The items range between $25 to $50 despite some being worth thousands of dollars 

The items are listed on the website BidSpotter under Heritage Global Partners. 

It is unclear why Musk has decided to auction off the items, but some speculated Twitter’s earning may be low since the CEO announced in November that the social media company had seen a drop in revenue.

‘Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we can to appease the activist,’ Musk wrote at the time. 

Musk had previously cut down on employees to cut cost – but gave some the option to either adopt Twitter’s new ‘hardcore’ style or resign. 

Nick Dove, a spokesperson for HGP, debunked assumptions that the auction was to offset any financial issues. 

‘They’ve sold for $44 billion, and we’re selling a couple of chairs and desks and computers. So if anyone genuinely thinks that the revenue from selling a couple computers and chairs will pay for the mountain there, then they’re a moron,’ Dove told Fortune. 

Other items up for grabs on the list include several ice machines, fridges, pizza ovens, a coffee maker, projectors, Mac desktops, several white boards and several unpackaged desks. 

Another item is a giant ‘@’ sign planter filed with succulents

An espresso machine that is worth around $18,000 is up for grabs on the auction website

Two stationary bikes is also up for grabs that can be used while working

A braising pan is also available. The cost of this item generally runs around $28,000

A vegetable dryer is also available, which can cost up to $3,000

Other items available include chairs, fridges, Mac desktops, several white boards and several unpackaged desks

Amid the auction announcement, Musk had lost his title of the richest person in the world on Tuesday to the Louis Vuitton group chief Bernard Arnault. 

Arnault, 73, is the chairman and CEO of LVMH. The luxury goods group parents brands, such as Dior, Tiffany and Bulgari – and is now worth $170.6 billion. 

Musk is now worth $163.1 billion, according to Bloomberg.  

The Tesla CEO’s worth was mostly associated with the car brand, but it has recently suffered this year amid concerns of over production. 

Musk also made a dent in his bank account when he purchased Twitter for $44 billion – a deal he was forced to sell $15 billion worth of his Tesla stick in order to close. 

Meanwhile, LVMH’s worth increased after the COVID-19 restrictions lifted and in-person shopping resumed.  

Source: Read Full Article