Since Elon Musk took over Twitter in October, the company has been in turmoil, aggressively cutting costs, laying off half of the company’s full-time workers and looking for new ways to boost revenue.
Now, Twitter is auctioning off surplus corporate assets from its headquarters in San Francisco, discarding artifacts from a bygone era in Bay Area technology. While the online auction doesn’t mark the end of Twitter, the collection evokes a heavier time when the company’s tastes reflected its status as a trendy tech employer.
He 631 lots include a blue electric light display in the shape of the Twitter bird logo, which had attracted an offer of more than $17,000; a bird statue, which had an offer of $16,000; a six foot decorative planter in the shape of the “@” symbol (bid was up to $4,100); and five espresso machines made by the Italian company La Marzocco, one of which had attracted an offer of $11,000.
Ross Dove, chief executive of Heritage Global, the parent company of Heritage Global Partners, which is running the auction, said more than 20,000 people had registered to bid online, more than at any of the thousands of auctions that have taken place. the company has managed for 90 years. in business.
He said the number of registered bidders had “shockingly outpaced” even those of previous high-profile auctions, such as those that sold items from Enron, Solyndra and Drexel Burnham Lambert after their spectacular collapses.
“The assets are really good because they bought the best of the best, but I don’t think we would have had this crowd without the fascination with Twitter,” Dove said. Speaking of Musk, she added: “Everything he does draws attention.”
Dove said it expected the auction to net Twitter about $1.5 million after bidding, which began on Tuesday, closes on Wednesday. That sum would not “move the needle” for a company Musk bought for $44 billion, Dove said. But he said it was nonetheless “good corporate governance” for any company to auction off surplus equipment.
“If you’re not going to use an espresso machine because you have extras,” Dove said, “why keep it?”
Twitter, which no longer has a communications department, did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment about the auction, which comes as the company has been cutting costs to stabilize its finances.
In December, The New York Times, citing two people familiar with the matter, reported that Twitter had stopped paying rent on its Seattle office and was facing eviction. Cleaning and security services were also cut, and in some cases employees resorted to bringing their own toilet paper to the office.
Now, as Twitter unloads restaurant-quality deli couches, tables, and slicers and mixers, some who knew the company in the pre-Musk era are experiencing a rush of nostalgia.
“Crazy to see Twitter office up for auction,” Kevin Weil, former Twitter executive, wrote on Twitter, while marveling at the articles. “Boardroom tables, phone booths, chairs, monitors… even the Twitter bird statue. Great memories of a different era.”
