Billionaire Elon Musk is taking his self-prescribed "hardcore" leadership style at Twitter to the next level, stripping the company's offices of its fancy espresso machines and bicycle-powered charging stations by putting fixtures up for auction.
The San Francisco-based company has listed 265 items described as "surplus corporate office assets" previously housed at Twitter's headquarters at 1355 Market St. with auction platform Heritage Global Partners. Bidding for the items will open Jan. 17 with prices starting at $25 for everything from a vegetable dryer to a Twitter bird statue.
The move to try auctioning off fixtures that used to represent Twitter's culture comes as Musk aggressively tries to curb the company's expenses and turn a profit. Since finalizing his $44 billion purchase in late October, the Tesla CEO laid off more than 3,500 employees and issued an ultimatum that is estimated to push out several hundred more.
Prior to the takeover, Twitter was known for perks that had become typical across Silicon Valley tech campuses. Michelin-starred chefs were hired to provide free meals and snacks. Services such as on-site dry cleaning, fitness classes and childcare were common, and some offices even included rooftop dog lounges and "relaxation zones."
Items in the auction also include:
- Several Eames lounge chairs and other designer furniture pieces.
- Industrial Italian espresso machines with a retail value of about $10,000.
- Commercial kitchen equipment including a drawer-warming unit, rotisserie, bakery oven, dry storage cabinet and beer dispenser.
- Projectors and teleconferencing equipment
- Apple computers and Google digital whiteboard displays.
- Standing desks.
The pandemic and the rise of remote work has flooded the used furniture marketplace with corporate goods tossed to the curb. Sometimes, if there aren't any takers, the items are just thrown away.
Earlier this year in Texas, an undisclosed technology company hired furniture liquidator Total Office Solutions to pack up its nearly 900 workstations and place the items on the resale market.
Twitter, which reportedly laid off staff in its marketing and media relations department after Musk's takeover, did not immediately respond to CoStar News' requests to comment. The company leases 1355 Market from San Francisco-based real estate investment firm Shorenstein.
Similar to other tech companies facing strong economic headwinds, Twitter under Musk's leadership has pulled the plug on a number of perks and allowances in recent months. The company discontinued all costs associated with employee wellness, productivity and new hire productivity, according to a memo first reported by Insider, and travel allowances have been slashed.
"We're facing a challenging economic climate where greater attention to cost management is essential," Elon Musk recently wrote in an email to employees. "The future of Twitter is super bright if we can work together to be wise stewards of the company's resources."