The landlord that owns the building where Twitter’s headquarters is based is suing the social media platform after the company missed two consecutive rent payments.
According to documents filed in San Francisco Superior Court, Twitter stiffed its landlord, SRI Nine Market Square LLC, on $6.8 million in unpaid rent.
The plaintiffs allege Twitter missed a $3.4 million rent payment in December and didn’t pay the same amount in January. Some of the late payments were covered by Twitter’s line of credit, but about $3.16 million is still owed to SRI Nine Market Square.
The lawsuit adds to Twitter’s woes since tech mogul Elon Musk took over the company in late October. Shortly after the $44 billion deal closed, Musk fired several top executives in charge of the company’s finances, marketing and communications, laid off hundreds of engineers, technical support and customer support staff, and changed the company’s internal and external policies in ways that have led to site instability issues, banned accounts and other problems.
Musk said one post-acquisition move — the mass layoffs — was necessary to control costs at Twitter. Recently, the company began auctioning off furniture and kitchen appliances in an attempt to cover its late rent payments, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
The auction ultimately netted Twitter around $100,000 for a neon sign and a little over $2,000 for a Twitter-branded photo booth. Other items included tables, chairs, artwork and an Electrolux-branded vegetable dryer.
