Several iconic Twitter items were auctioned off successfully, but won’t help the social media company’s financial situation.
Twitter’s memorabilia, high end office chairs, and espresso machine are now in the hands of people who are fans of the social media company or sought a good deal thanks to an online auction.
The blue bird statue is now in the hands of a private individual who eagerly paid $100,000 for the iconic symbol of Twitter.
The large 3.5 foot blue bird symbol was the most coveted item at the Twitter auction that ended on Jan. 18. Bids for the iconic symbol sold for $100,000 while a neon version, a 10-foot neon Twitter bird display that was hung up on the wall of the Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters, received a bid for $40,000.
Marsha Collier, an ecommerce expert and author, tweeted, “Items in the #TwitterAuction were very successful today – here’s two that sold for $100K & $40K These two iconic #Twitter pieces of memorabilia just closed. I took these screenshots a few seconds before they disappeared. Keep in mind, there’s also a Buyer’s Premium of 18%.”
The online auction that lasted 27 hours was run by Heritage Global Partners and was merely the most change that occured at the San Francisco office after Twitter was acquired last October by Tesla (TSLA) – Get Free Report CEO Elon Musk.
Musk disrupted Twitter’s operations immediately by firing its CEO and CFO and its employees while delaying rent payments for its offices and even slashing perks such as free meals.
The billionaire, who is no stranger to attention, arrived at Twitter’s headquarters with a sink last year on the day the deal closed to take the company private.
Musk tweeted “Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in!”
Bids were received for all sorts of items, including $15,500 for an “@” sculpture-slash-planter.
There were a total of 631 lots with some standard tech office equipment, including whiteboards, coffee machines, designer chairs, stationary bike stations capable of charging appliances, and iMacs.
The auction included the sale of a fryer, commercial dehydrator, and a La Marzocco Strada semi-automatic espresso machine that retails for $25,000.
Bidders got a steal for some expensive equipment such as an industrial freezer, flywheel slicer, and a pizza oven while people who wanted to add a Knoll task chair or standing desk to their office got their wish fulfilled.
Rak Garg, product lead venture capitalist at Bain Capital Ventures, tweeted, “This Twitter office furniture auction proves that 2021 is alive and well in the venture markets (I know exactly who’s buying $1k chairs for $2k used).”
A quick check by a reporter did not reveal any items from Twitter’s auction being resold such as the blue bird statue on eBay, an online marketplace.
Twitter’s Finances Weak After Losing Advertisers
The proceeds of the auction are not known, but will not make any impact in the precarious financial situation of the social media company.
Some Twitter’s advertisers have fled the social media company after Musk allowed previously banned accounts back on the microblogging website, posting hateful, racist, and anti-Semitic tweets. Advertising consists of over 90% of Twitter’s revenue.
Musk took on $13 billion in debt to complete the deal. The billionaire and the microblogging platform need to make the first interest payment for the debt he took on to finance the $44 billion acquisition of the social network on Oct. 27.
The debt comes with interest payments of around $1.5 billion a year and the first $300 million payment is due by the end of January, according to Bloomberg News’ calculations, which are based mainly on the commitment letter.
The commitment letter details how the $13 billion in debt was allocated to Twitter’s balance sheet and had been contracted with a group of banks, led by Morgan Stanley and including Bank of America, Barclays, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, BNP Paribas, Mizuho Financial Group and Societe Generale.
As a result, Twitter has three large pieces of debt: $6.5 billion that was meant to be sold to leveraged-loan investors, and $6 billion of bridge loans, split equally between a secured and unsecured tranche, that banks had planned to sell in the form of junk bonds, according to Bloomberg News.
All the debt appears to have quarterly interest payments, according to a debt commitment letter filed with the Security and Exchange Commission.
Twitter’s revenue declined by a massive amount of 40% year over year, according to a report by Platformer.
The company’s Hong Kong, Singapore and Philippines offices have been closed, according to Business Insider. More offices are also scheduled to be shuttered.
Tesla’s stock sunk by 61.2% during the last year after the Twitter deal closed as Musk began tweeting conservative viewpoints. A large amount of the billionaire’s net worth is tied up in the electric vehicle manufacturer’s stock.
Shares of Tesla have risen by 3.79% during the past five days after a slump of 15.12% during the past month.
