Harsh Cost-Cutting After Elon Musk's Acquisition
Auction of Parangsae Sculpture, Coffee Machines, and Office Supplies
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, who acquired Twitter and began cost-cutting measures, has even put the iconic bluebird sculpture up for auction.
On the 18th (local time), according to the New York Times (NYT) and others, the bluebird sculpture was priced at $20,000 (about 25 million KRW) at an online auction by Heritage Global Partners, and a large plant planter shaped like the '@' symbol, measuring 190 cm in both width and height, was priced at $8,000 (about 9.9 million KRW).
The auction items included a high-end La Marzocco espresso machine, a foam sprayer that dispenses ice, and a Herman Miller coffee table set with a new price of $2,000 (about 2.48 million KRW). Additionally, printing equipment, small drawer units, soundproof meeting booths, and designer sofas were also put up for auction.
This series of auctions is analyzed as another cost-cutting move after Twitter recently failed to pay office rent. Twitter was acquired by its new owner Elon Musk last October for $44 billion (about 54.6 trillion KRW). Musk laid off about half of the 7,500 employees and launched extensive cost-cutting measures, including reducing meal expenses.
Musk: "Company revenue plummeted"... Sued for unpaid rent
Elon Musk, who became the new owner of Twitter last year, has launched a major cost-cutting initiative. [Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]
In November last year, Musk tweeted that the company’s revenue had plummeted due to some advertisers leaving, warning that the company might go bankrupt. Twitter was also sued at the end of last month for failing to pay $136,260 (about 170 million KRW) in rent for its San Francisco office.
Recently, as part of rent reduction efforts, Twitter vacated its Asia-Pacific headquarters office in Singapore and ordered employees to work from home. Casey Newton, founder of the big tech newsletter "Platformer," pointed out that the order to vacate the Singapore office was "because they couldn’t pay the rent."
Cost-cutting measures are reportedly ongoing, with reports that after Twitter terminated its contract with the cleaning service for the company building, employees had to carry personal tissue, and food odors and garbage smells spread throughout the office.
However, Nick Dove, CEO of HGP, told the business magazine Fortune that this auction has "nothing to do with covering the cost of acquiring Twitter."
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