Twitter and Musk

Not paying your rent is not a good look. Especially when you owe it to the British Crown. Right, Elon Musk.

King Charles’ Crown Estate Sues Twitter Over Unpaid Rent—Latest Rent Allegation Against Musk
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianb...rent-allegation-against-musk/?sh=14d39f6bffc7

The Crown Estate, which manages the British Royal Family’s massive real estate portfolio, has taken Twitter to court, alleging billionaire Elon Musk’s social media company has not paid rent for its London office space—the fourth claim against Twitter for allegedly failing to pay rent as Musk looks to shed costs amid a series of high-profile financial struggles in recent months.
  • Twitter, which has occupied the building since 2011, allegedly failed to pay rent for its office space in London’s West End, according to a lawsuit filed last week in London’s High Court, multiple outlets reported.
  • The building had been stripped of all Twitter signs and logos, although the social media giant still occupies it, the Daily Telegraph reported.
  • The news comes one day after the landlord of Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters sued the social media company for $6.8 million for allegedly failing to pay its December and January rent on the building, as Musk makes several substantial cuts at Twitter since he completed his purchase of the company last October, including massive layoffs affecting as many as half of the company’s workforce.
  • Twitter did not immediately respond to a Forbes inquiry.
Key Background
Twitter had reportedly been failing to pay rent on all of its corporate offices for multiple weeks, the New York Times reported in December—two months after Musk completed his $44 billion purchase of the company. The lawsuit in London comes less than a month after the landlord of a commercial building on California Street in downtown San Francisco filed a suit against Twitter, claiming the company owes more than $136,000 in overdue rent, after serving a notice in December giving the company five days to pay rent before it would be in default. Twitter came under fire again last week for allegedly failing to pay rent on a commercial building it recently vacated in Seattle, where the building’s owner filed another lawsuit against the company, although it did not list a dollar amount.

Tangent
Late last year, Musk laid off roughly half of the company’s 7,500 employees, with reports indicating those cuts affected Twitter’s global workforce, including large portions of entire teams, including one responsible for its misinformation policy on the platform. The company’s former CEO Parag Agrawal and CFO Ned Segal also left soon after Musk took over. In another lawsuit filed last month, a private jet company claims Twitter committed a breach of contract for failing to pay nearly $200,000 for two charter flights.

Surprising Fact
In a move to recoup some of the money Musk spent on the Twitter purchase, and after several hundred advertisers removed their ads from the platform—largely over concerns around content moderation—Musk has also been auctioning off company mementos, including a statue of the iconic Twitter bird from the company’s San Francisco headquarters, which sold for $100,000 last week.

Further Reading
Twitter’s Money Problems Deepen: Revenues Reportedly Plummet As Major Advertisers Jump Ship After Musk’s Takeover (Forbes)

King Charles III’s property empire pursues Twitter over unpaid rent (Washington Post)

King Charles' real estate company is suing Elon Musk's Twitter over unpaid rent (Business Insider)
 
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Musk runs a business so well (sarcasm). At a time where Twitter 2.0 is not paying the bills and auctioning off stuff including "trifles such as keyboards and USB dongles. But the company has left tens, or potentially hundreds, of thousands of dollars’ worth of shimmering assets to gather dust in former employees’ homes". The former employees are trying to find out how to return their inaccessible laptops (which were locked) and nobody will return their calls.

At the same time Twitter is in dire need of revenue, advertisers can't even get in touch with anyone in the sales department to place orders. Such brilliant leadership from Musk.

Ex-Twitter Workers Puzzle Over Elon Musk’s Abandoned Laptops
The cash-strapped company recently auctioned off USB dongles but has left some corporate computers in the custody of laid-off staff.
https://www.wired.com/story/ex-twitter-workers-puzzle-over-elon-musks-abandoned-laptops/

Former Twitter employees are confused over the company's failure to collect their work laptops
https://www.yahoo.com/news/former-twitter-employees-confused-over-133756012.html

After Layoffs, Twitter Sales Reps Are Ghosting Advertisers
The cuts that Elon Musk made to Twitter are forcing some advertisers to pull back on spending.
https://observer.com/2023/01/after-layoffs-twitter-sales-reps-are-ghosting-advertisers/
 
VicBee said:
Wait, isn't Twitter private now?
More...

Numerous financial institutions hold private equity and/or debt in Twitter 2.0 including the Saudis. When the valuation of Musk's Twitter drops significantly they must adjust the valuation in their books to reflect their risk and losses.

Twitter 2.0 paid their first interest payment today. This is not unexpected; Musk had the $300 Million in the Twitter accounts needed to pay this first debt payment. However the future ones become more questionable.

"While Twitter made its first interest payment, its debt load is still a heavy burden. Annual interest is expected to exceed $1.2 billion, some of which carries floating rates that could continue to increase as the Federal Reserve hikes interest rates."

"The pile includes a $6.5 billion loan that banks originally hoped to sell to institutional investors and $6 billion of bridge loans, split equally between a secured and unsecured tranche, that banks had planned to sell in the form of junk bonds."

Twitter Makes First Interest Payment on Musk Buyout Debt
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ke-first-interest-payment-on-musk-buyout-debt
  • First coupon was expected to cost Twitter around $300 million
  • Twitter paid a group of seven banks led by Morgan Stanley
Twitter Inc. made its first interest payment on the $12.5 billion in debt that Elon Musk used to take the social media giant private last year.

The company paid a group of seven banks, led by Morgan Stanley, which became stuck with the debt after they were unable to sell it to outside investors.

Representatives for Morgan Stanley and Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The first coupon was expected to cost Twitter roughly $300 million, according to Bloomberg calculations and market participants not involved in the Twitter deal. The payment was due around Jan. 27, about three months after the transaction closed.

A lot is riding on these interest payments. Questions remain about Musk’s ability to turn around the social media giant, though the fact that he’s made good on the first chunk of interest expense stands to bolster confidence in his ability to avert a bankruptcy in the near term.

Since his purchase, Twitter has failed to pay millions of dollars in rent for its San Francisco headquarters and London offices, has been sued by multiple contractors over unpaid services and has auctioned off everything from bird statues to espresso machines to raise money. He’s also openly floated the idea of bankruptcy, cited a “massive drop” in revenue as some advertisers fled from the platform, and slashed staff since closing his $44 billion leveraged buyout at the end of October.

Yet Musk has also said Twitter’s finances are improving. He said in a late December Twitter Spaces conversation that the company has about $1 billion in cash on its balance sheet and is now on track to “roughly” hit cash flow break-even following all the cuts.

Musk is now in the process of overhauling the company. He previously teased turning Twitter into something called “X, the everything app.” He’s also taken an active role in suspending accounts.

Big Debt Bill
While Twitter made its first interest payment, its debt load is still a heavy burden. Annual interest is expected to exceed $1.2 billion, some of which carries floating rates that could continue to increase as the Federal Reserve hikes interest rates.

The pile includes a $6.5 billion loan that banks originally hoped to sell to institutional investors and $6 billion of bridge loans, split equally between a secured and unsecured tranche, that banks had planned to sell in the form of junk bonds.

Representatives for Bank of America Corp., Barclays Plc, BNP Paribas SA, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. declined to comment. A representative for Societe Generale SA did not respond to a request for comment. The six banks joined Morgan Stanley in providing the buyout financing.

Twitter Pain
Four banks underwrote most of the $12.5 billion of debt for Twitter

Twitter-bank-debt.jpg


Banks also provided Twitter a $500 million revolving credit facility, which allows the company to borrow, pay it back and borrow again over the life of the loan. If Twitter draws on it, its interest expense would increase.
 
gwb-trading said:
Numerous financial institutions hold private equity and/or debt in Twitter 2.0 including the Saudis. When the valuation of Musk's Twitter drops significantly they must adjust the valuation in their books to reflect their risk and losses.

Twitter 2.0 paid their first interest payment today. This is not unexpected; Musk had the $300 Million in the Twitter accounts needed to pay this first debt payment. However the future ones become more questionable.

"While Twitter made its first interest payment, its debt load is still a heavy burden. Annual interest is expected to exceed $1.2 billion, some of which carries floating rates that could continue to increase as the Federal Reserve hikes interest rates."

"The pile includes a $6.5 billion loan that banks originally hoped to sell to institutional investors and $6 billion of bridge loans, split equally between a secured and unsecured tranche, that banks had planned to sell in the form of junk bonds."

Twitter Makes First Interest Payment on Musk Buyout Debt
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ke-first-interest-payment-on-musk-buyout-debt
  • First coupon was expected to cost Twitter around $300 million
  • Twitter paid a group of seven banks led by Morgan Stanley
Twitter Inc. made its first interest payment on the $12.5 billion in debt that Elon Musk used to take the social media giant private last year.

The company paid a group of seven banks, led by Morgan Stanley, which became stuck with the debt after they were unable to sell it to outside investors.

Representatives for Morgan Stanley and Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The first coupon was expected to cost Twitter roughly $300 million, according to Bloomberg calculations and market participants not involved in the Twitter deal. The payment was due around Jan. 27, about three months after the transaction closed.

A lot is riding on these interest payments. Questions remain about Musk’s ability to turn around the social media giant, though the fact that he’s made good on the first chunk of interest expense stands to bolster confidence in his ability to avert a bankruptcy in the near term.

Since his purchase, Twitter has failed to pay millions of dollars in rent for its San Francisco headquarters and London offices, has been sued by multiple contractors over unpaid services and has auctioned off everything from bird statues to espresso machines to raise money. He’s also openly floated the idea of bankruptcy, cited a “massive drop” in revenue as some advertisers fled from the platform, and slashed staff since closing his $44 billion leveraged buyout at the end of October.

Yet Musk has also said Twitter’s finances are improving. He said in a late December Twitter Spaces conversation that the company has about $1 billion in cash on its balance sheet and is now on track to “roughly” hit cash flow break-even following all the cuts.

Musk is now in the process of overhauling the company. He previously teased turning Twitter into something called “X, the everything app.” He’s also taken an active role in suspending accounts.

Big Debt Bill
While Twitter made its first interest payment, its debt load is still a heavy burden. Annual interest is expected to exceed $1.2 billion, some of which carries floating rates that could continue to increase as the Federal Reserve hikes interest rates.

The pile includes a $6.5 billion loan that banks originally hoped to sell to institutional investors and $6 billion of bridge loans, split equally between a secured and unsecured tranche, that banks had planned to sell in the form of junk bonds.

Representatives for Bank of America Corp., Barclays Plc, BNP Paribas SA, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. declined to comment. A representative for Societe Generale SA did not respond to a request for comment. The six banks joined Morgan Stanley in providing the buyout financing.

Twitter Pain
Four banks underwrote most of the $12.5 billion of debt for Twitter

View attachment 305134

Banks also provided Twitter a $500 million revolving credit facility, which allows the company to borrow, pay it back and borrow again over the life of the loan. If Twitter draws on it, its interest expense would increase.
More...
So, cutting all the spin crap, Musk made his first payment, right? Let's see if he makes the next one.
 
Let's see now. Just checking to see if GWB has given any daily updates on TSLA being up for the last two or more weeks. Nope. Not seeing it.

Okay, how bout Elon being acquitted by the jury in his jury trial brought by investors. Unanimous acquittal announced. Not seeing any update here.

Yup. Daily and hourly reports on the bad news. Zip on any good news.

That's our man GWB. Hater extraordinaire.

Tesla's Elon Musk found not liable in trial over 2018 'funding secured' tweets

https://www.reuters.com/legal/secur...lon-musks-2018-tweets-draws-close-2023-02-03/
 
TreeFrogTrader said:
Let's see now. Just checking to see if GWB has given any daily updates on TSLA being up for the last two or more weeks. Nope. Not seeing it.

Okay, how bout Elon being acquitted by the jury in his jury trial brought by investors. Unanimous acquittal announced. Not seeing any update here.

Yup. Daily and hourly reports on the bad news. Zip on any good news.

That's our man GWB. Hater extraordinaire.

Tesla's Elon Musk found not liable in trial over 2018 'funding secured' tweets

https://www.reuters.com/legal/secur...lon-musks-2018-tweets-draws-close-2023-02-03/
More...

Did I ever claim that the investors were going to win this case over the 2018 Tweet? No. At best it was a distraction and the level of evidence to find Musk liable is effectively a mountain. It is interesting however to see mainstream business and law publications comparing Musk to a Mafia Don -- ‘Teflon’ Elon Wins Again as Jury Rejects Tweet Fraud Claims

However, this trial is evidence that Musk needs to get off of Twitter and focus on business. How many times has Musk been sued for his Tweets.. calling a rescue diver a pedophile, etc. etc. This is not how a successful business person uses social media. It is how a demented person uses social media.

In regards to Tesla, a business where Musk is cutting the price of vehicles to move inventory, sales are slowing in key markets like China, and nearly all of his competitors are offering better quality EVs at better prices. Despite the recent dead cat bounce of the stock, the long term future looks bleak unless appropriate actions are taken at Tesla -- and Musk is effectively ignoring Tesla as he mismanages Twitter into the ground.
 
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