Elon Musk has already introduced a series of controversial ways to make money at Twitter, but his latest venture may be the most creative. The billionaire reportedly auctioned off thousands in old Twitter memorabilia.
Heritage Global Partners, an asset disposal firm, oversaw the auction that saw a number of mementos from Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters go up for auction.
The auction didn’t only have kitschy items, but everything including “kitchen equipment, electronics, furniture” and more.
The most expensive item sold at the auction was reportedly a 4-foot statue of Twitter’s bird logo. The buyer paid $100,000 for the neon piece , even though it was originally commission for $17,000.
Other notable pieces that sold include a food dehydrator, a pizza oven, and three beer kegs, all of which sold for over $10,000 a piece.There were also several soundproof phone booths that auctioned off for $4,000.
Elon hasn’t been shy about Twitter’s financial problems since acquiring the platform in aa $44 billion deal in October.
In November, the billionaire defended his decision to fire half of Twitter’s employees in an effort to cut costs immediately after taking over, implying he barely had a choice.
"Regarding Twitter's reduction in force, unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day,” he tweeted.
In another effort to make Twitter profitable, Elon introduced a paid version of the site. This gives users a variety of special privileges, including a blue verification checkmark. But this has also made it easier to impersonate other accounts.
Elon bought Twitter to open it up to absolute free speech. He’s loosened restrictions on what can and cannot be said, and reinstated controversial accounts, including for former U.S. President Donald Trump, who was banned from Twitter after using it to encourage the Capitol riots.
The businessman’s changes to the platform have caused many advertisers to sever ties with Twitter, decreasing its monthly revenue.
Additionally, many users (both famous and other) have deactivated their accounts.
Twitter’s financial problems may be catching up to them, which would explain the need to sell off mundane items, like mementos. Earlier this month, Twitter was hit with a lawsuit after it fell two months behind on rent at its San Francisco office, totalling $136,260 in debt.
Elon has also received criticism for selling a significant portion of Tesla shares to seemingly fund the Twitter buyout. Of the $36 billion in shares he’s offloaded, half have been since acquiring Twitter – and he’s even made several sales since swearing last summer he wouldn’t do anymore.
Sources: HGP Auctions, Forbes, Business Insider,
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