Reports claim that Twitter under its new owner Elon Musk has not been paying rent on its San Francisco headquarters and is also auctioning off office equipment to help the social media business with its finances.
According to three unnamed sources who talked to the New York Times, Twitter has been skipping its rent payments for weeks at both its San Francisco facility and all of its international offices.
(Photo : Twitter account of Elon Musk/AFP via Getty Images)
TOPSHOT - This video grab taken from a video posted on the Twitter account of billionaire Tesla chief Elon Musk on October 26, 2022 shows himself carrying a sink as he enters the Twitter headquarters in San Francisco. Elon Musk changed his Twitter profile to "Chief Twit" and posted video of himself walking into the social network's California headquarters carrying a sink, days before his contentious takeover of the company must be finalized.
Lease Agreements
Due to their smaller workforce following mass layoffs, Musk and his advisors hope to renegotiate the conditions of lease agreements, as per the NYT.
Musk completed the $44 billion acquisition deal of the company back in October and ever since then he had to cut costs, enforce mass layoffs, and introduce new ways to generate revenue such as the Twitter blue mark verification process.
This alleged move could just be of the billionaire's cost-cutting efforts. The Chief Twit also admitted in November that he is seeing a "massive drop" in revenues.
A copy of a complaint filed in New Hampshire claimed that the business is also refusing to pay a nearly $200,000 cost for private charter flights made the week after Musk took the reigns, as per NYT's report.
Sources added that Musk's team is also considering what may occur if the business didn't follow through on providing severance pay to the laid-off workers ever since Musk completed the deal.
Severance Pay
According to federal and state labor rules, Musk initially decided the firm would pay US-based employees at least two months of pay and another month of severance pay. However, according to two people cited by the Times, Musk's team is now debating whether to pay for some of those months.
Five people told the Times that many ex-employees are still awaiting the documentation that formally ends their employment with Twitter.
Twitter is also reportedly selling gadgets, office supplies, and appliances from its San Francisco location.
According to the listing from Heritage Global Partners, some of the equipment include a 41-inch tall Twitter bird statue, workstations, chairs, televisions, projectors, espresso machines, and a sculpture planter.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Heritage Global Partners announced the sale's details over the weekend, with bids beginning to be accepted in January.
However, a spokesperson from the company claimed that the sale had nothing to do with the bird app's financial situation.
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