Twitter Inc. is auctioning kegerators, pizza ovens and other supplies from its San Francisco headquarters in what appears to be its latest cost-cutting move.
More than 600 items are being sold online through Wednesday afternoon, according to an auction page run by Heritage Global Partners, Inc. The items were described on the page as surplus corporate office assets.
Some of the more quirky pieces on sale include a neon sign of Twitter’s bird logo, currently fetching $27,500, and a bird-logo statue for which someone recently bid $21,500. The lowest priced item early Wednesday was a set of 10 rolling stands selling for at least $150.
Heritage Global Partners and Twitter didn’t immediately return requests for comment Wednesday. Twitter hasn’t said why it is auctioning its office supplies.
The auction appeared to be Twitter’s latest effort to slash costs.
Elon Musk
took over Twitter in October for $44 billion, saddling the company with about $13 billion in debt. Twitter has since tried to boost its bottom line by cutting thousands of employees and offering users a paid subscription service. The company hasn’t booked an annual profit since 2019.
Twitter was accused last month of not paying rent in one of its offices. The office landlord, Columbia Reit-650 California LLC, sued the company over more than $136,000 in missed payments. The office named in the lawsuit is more than a mile away from Twitter’s headquarters.
The items listed in the auction offered a snapshot of life there before Mr. Musk took over. It was a place where employees could store beer kegs in a kegerator, lounge in a hanging chair and eat lunch on a banquette.
The company culture has shifted under Mr. Musk. Some employees have reportedly slept at work, although there were no beds listed for auction this week. At least part of Twitter’s headquarters appeared to be out of commission recently, because auction pictures this week showed whiteboards and tables piled high in some areas.
Mr. Musk has talked about ending remote work for most employees. He wrote in an email in November that they needed to work long hours or leave. “We will need to be extremely hardcore,” he wrote. He had warned earlier that Twitter could possibly go bankrupt because of what he described as dire economic challenges facing the company.
Other items up for auction included packs of power strips (68 for $950), 48 boxes of KN95 masks (currently fetching $650) and an “@” sign sculpture (latest bid: $8,500). There were also typical office supplies like chairs, couches and phone booths.
Successful bidders can pick up their items starting next week, according to Heritage Global Partners. If the item is too big for the company to carry, the buyers will need to hire movers.
Write to Alyssa Lukpat at alyssa.lukpat@wsj.com
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