The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 19th (local time) that Twitter has been sued in nine cases for failing to pay $14 million (about 18.2 billion won) in rent and other payments.
According to the WSJ, landlords, consultants, and vendors contracted with Twitter recently filed a lawsuit against Twitter for non-payment.
At least nine lawsuits have been filed since Musk bought Twitter. The total bill was $14 million, plus interest for non-payment.
Three of these cases are lawsuits for non-payment of rent for offices, including the headquarters in San Francisco. In the lawsuit, the owner of the headquarters building claimed that Twitter did not pay about $6.8 million (about 8.8 billion won) in rent between December last year and January this year.
Last month, marketing company Cannery filed a lawsuit seeking $400,000 (about 520 million won). The company’s filings with the court included a list of purchases called “gift boxes for Elon,” which contained Japanese whiskey, airline stores, socks, and more.
There was also a lawsuit demanding $197,725 (approximately 256 million won) of the chartered flight fee used by the former management in the process of acquiring Twitter. At the time, the chief marketing officer used a chartered flight and did not pay the fee.
The current Twitter executive said that only designated people can make reservations according to the contract with the charter company, and that the company is not responsible.
The WSJ pointed out that Musk has been delaying payments as he has started to tighten management after acquiring Twitter.
Musk has experience in overcoming crises by putting pressure on suppliers when companies face financial difficulties.
In fact, as Tesla struggled to expand Model 3 production in 2018, it either increased the payment period for its suppliers from 60 days to 90 days or suspended payments. In response, some suppliers even accused Tesla.
In November of last year, Musk even mentioned the possibility of bankruptcy, saying that Twitter was losing more than $4 million (about 5.2 billion won) a day, but earlier this month, he said on Twitter, “There are still difficulties, but we are moving to the break-even point.”
Twitter is no longer disclosing financial details since it went private.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.