Twitter Headquarters Landlord Sues Elon Musk Over Unpaid Rent Arrears
Twitter Inc. is being sued over allegedly unpaid rent at its headquarters building in San Francisco, adding to legal battles between the social-media company and vendors since Elon Musk acquired the business last year.
The landlord, SRI Nine Market Square LLC, alleged in a lawsuit that Twitter failed to make a roughly $3.4 million rent payment for December and a similarly sized payment for January.
In the complaint filed Friday in San Francisco Superior Court, the landlord said it drew on Twitter’s letter of credit to try to cover the missed payments, but that the company still owes $3.16 million. The landlord is seeking payment for unpaid rent and other damages, according to the legal filing. The lawsuit was previously reported by the San Francisco Business Times.
Mr. Musk acquired Twitter in late October in a deal valued at $44 billion, funded partly through the company’s taking on roughly $13 billion in debt. Twitter didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Musk has sought to slash costs at Twitter since taking over, as many advertisers left the platform. Shortly after buying the company, the billionaire invoked the spectre of bankruptcy, though he more recently said he expects Twitter to be roughly cash-flow break-even in 2023.
Mr. Musk also laid off thousands of employees, which he said was necessary to control costs.
Other companies including a software provider and a transportation company also have sued Twitter, alleging overdue payments, since Mr. Musk took over the business. A landlord for a different Twitter office space in San Francisco sued in December, alleging unpaid rent.
Twitter’s headquarters is at 1355 Market St., in San Francisco’s Mid-Market area. The social-media company is the tenant on eight floors of the building, according to the complaint.
Twitter earlier this month auctioned off kegerators, pizza ovens and other supplies from its headquarters in what appeared to be part of its latest cost-cutting drive. A neon sign of Twitter’s bird logo fetched around $100,000.
