'Tesla Musk Era' Twitter Faces Multiple Lawsuits Over 18 Billion KRW Unpaid Invoices

[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Joselgina] Twitter is facing multiple lawsuits due to unpaid bills exceeding $14 million (approximately 18.2 billion KRW) under the leadership of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 19th (local time).

According to the report, landlords, consultants, and vendors contracted with Twitter have recently filed at least nine lawsuits over unpaid office rent, consulting fees, and other charges. The unpaid amount is estimated to exceed $14 million. Among the nine cases, one was dismissed at the plaintiff's request and concluded last Friday.

WSJ noted that these lawsuits came amid Musk's statement earlier this month regarding Twitter's business situation, saying it is "heading toward the break-even point." Consequently, there are claims that Twitter, aiming to reach break-even this year, is avoiding payments.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Currently, three of the lawsuits in the United States are related to office rent. Previously, the landlord of Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco filed a lawsuit claiming Twitter failed to pay approximately $6.8 million in rent for December and January last year. Some of the unpaid amounts are also linked to Musk's acquisition process of Twitter. In October last year, failure to pay for the use of two chartered planes also led to a lawsuit.

CEO Musk revealed in November last year, shortly after acquiring Twitter, that the company was suffering a significant revenue decline and was losing more than $4 million daily. At that time, he even mentioned the possibility of bankruptcy. Subsequently, under Musk's leadership, Twitter undertook large-scale restructuring and cost-cutting measures, and Musk tweeted earlier this month that "Twitter is still facing many difficulties, but it is now heading toward the break-even point."

However, Musk did not respond regarding how much Twitter's financial situation has improved. As a private company, Twitter is no longer obligated to disclose financial statements. According to the IT specialized media Platformer, Twitter's average daily revenue in January is estimated to have decreased by 40% compared to the same month last year.