Twitter Sued for Unpaid Rent at San Francisco HQ Following Musk Takeover The company owes $136,260 in unpaid rent.
By Madeline Garfinkle Edited by Jessica Thomas
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When Elon Musk took Twitter private for a whopping $44 billion in late October 2022, the acquisition triggered a series of changes — both on the platform and for the company.
Twitter hasn't had an annual profit since 2019, and Musk voiced plans to increase profitability following his takeover. He started the initiative with widespread cost-cutting to both staff and expenses.
Within his first few days on the job, Musk fired top executives and laid off nearly half of the company's employees. However, Twitter's cost-cutting under Musk's reign transcends lay-offs.
The company is being sued by the landlord of its San Francisco headquarters for not paying rent, multiple outlets reported on Monday. Twitter owes roughly $136,260 in unpaid rent, according to the lawsuit.
And it's not just the San Francisco HQ facing trouble for ducking out on bills.
News of Twitter's failure to pay rent on its offices first came to light in mid-December when The New York Times reported that the company had ceased paying rent and hoped to renegotiate the terms of its leases.
Related: Twitter HQ Is Auctioning Off Hundreds of Items, Including a Kegerator and a Giant Blue Bird Statue
Twitter's Seattle office is reportedly facing eviction, according to NYT, and after janitorial and cleaning services were cut off, some employees reported having to bring their own toilet paper to work.
Similar measures of extreme cost-cutting have occurred at the company's New York and San Francisco offices, where security and cleaning staff were laid off before the new year.
Neither Twitter nor Musk has commented on the lawsuit filed by its San Francisco landlord. Since he acquired Twitter, Elon Musk has become the first person to ever lose $200 billion.
