Twitter is facing a barrage of lawsuits with claims from landlords, consultants, and vendors piling up, all of whom are alleging bills have been left unpaid.
It comes as the social media company is attempting to cut costs and achieve a break-even point since billionaire Elon Musk‘s $44billion takeover.
So far, the complaints, total more than $14 million, plus interest according to nine lawsuits seen by the Wall Street Journal.
They include a $7,000 bill issued by Twitter’s marketing department for a ‘swag gift box for Elon’ shortly before the $44 billion deal closed on October 27, with the vendor who provided the box still having not received payment.
The company’s court filings revealed the gift box contained a sandblasted logo on a Japanese whiskey bottle, an extra-large bomber jacket, and more than $250 worth of socks, among other items.
Musk has been quibbling over nearly every penny since he purchased Twitter with many of the other bills already unpaid when he took over last October.
From the moment he stepped foot inside the San Francisco headquarters he immediately adopted a more frugal attitude towards spending at the company even 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 included valuable luxury items, such as a $20,000 espresso machine, a $10,000 vegetable dryer and a $17,000 braising pan. An ‘@’ shaped planter was also up for grabs, along with chairs, tables and kegs.
In December it was reported that Musk was no longer paying rent on Twitter’s Seattle office and was also plotting to shutter one of the firm’s New York offices.
The San Francisco headquarters has since been condensed from four floors to two, with luxurious perks now reportedly scrapped in favor of stinky offices that are no longer cleaned after sacking janitors who went on strike for better wages.
It left the office reeking of leftover takeout and body odor according to current and former employees.
In the past, Musk has experienced running companies on the brink of financial ruin, including Tesla which came very close to running out of money.
Musk appears to be hands on when it comes to managing the company’s financial challenges putting pressure on suppliers and vendors when saving money was critical.
According to Van Conway, a restructuring expert who has assisted distressed companies for almost four decades, ‘What Elon Musk is doing is essentially mimicking a bankruptcy. He is slashing costs with a machete.’
Since taking over in October, Musk has implemented a number of significant changes at Twitter, which has a history of losing money.
In response to an advertiser pullback and deal-related debt expenses, Musk cut staff and costs.
He publicly criticized the company’s spending, including $13 million per year on employee meals.
Although he initially suggested that Twitter could face bankruptcy due to losing over $4 million per day, Musk has recently stated that the company is now making progress toward breaking even.
Twitter is currently private and no longer publicly reports its financial details.
The company is facing at least three lawsuits related to office space, including allegations that it failed to pay nearly $6.8 million in rent for December and January at its San Francisco headquarters.
Last year it owed $239 million primarily for office space and data center facilities.
In a separate lawsuit, a marketing company claimed that Twitter owes almost $400,000 for company-branded merchandise.
Musk’s other company, Tesla, has also faced financial challenges, particularly during the production of the Model 3 compact car.
Tesla extended payment terms to 90 days from 60 days and stopped some payments, causing some suppliers to file mechanic’s liens seeking unpaid compensation.
‘We’re not behind because we can’t pay them,’ Musk said at the time. ‘It is just because we’re arguing whether the parts are right.’
Tesla also reached out to landlords seeking rent reductions at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Some of the claims that were outstanding related to the company’s efforts to close the acquisition deal with Musk.
One lawsuit which has since been dismissed was filed by Private Jet Services Group LLC in December 2022 seeking $197,725 for arranging last-minute charter flights from New Jersey to San Francisco and back for then-Chief Marketing Officer Leslie Berland.
Marty O’Neill, head of Twitter’s global strategic sourcing, informed the air-charter company that Twitter would not be paying for the flights, arguing that only designated representatives were authorized to book flights per its contract with Private Jet Services.
Another Twitter worker suggested that former CEO Parag Agrawal had approved the flights, but O’Neill refused to budge per rules implemented under the new management.
SOURCE: dailymail.co.uk
