Current:Home > StocksTwitter auctioned off office supplies, including a pizza oven and neon bird sign -Wealthify
Twitter auctioned off office supplies, including a pizza oven and neon bird sign
EchoSense Quantitative Think Tank Center View
Date:2025-04-09 14:42:53
Are you in need of some mid-century modern furniture, industrial kitchen equipment or audio-visual systems? Or looking to brighten up your apartment with a giant neon bird sign?
Then you're in luck. Twitter's San Francisco headquarters auctioned off "surplus corporate office assets" online for a fleeting 27 hours, giving potential lucky bidders the chance to take a piece of the struggling company home with them.
Auction house Global Heritage Partners is running the de facto fire sale, which closed at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) on Wednesday and charged a buyer's premium of 18%.
The 631 lots include office supplies like projectors and massive white boards (in both old-school and digital form), kitchen equipment from espresso machines to refrigerators (including a kegerator beer dispenser), a wide variety of chairs and couches and miscellaneous modern-day workplace staples like assorted power adapters and KN95 masks in bulk.
There's also a bit of Twitter-specific memorabilia, including a six-foot-tall "@"-shaped planter sculpture filled with artificial flowers (with a high bid of $8,250), a blue neon sign in the shape of the app's bird logo ($22,500) and a smaller, sturdier bird statue ($20,500).
Other notable items include a pizza oven ($10,000), a conference room-sized booth ($7,250) and several individual soundproof phone booths, packs of high-end desk chairs ($4,900) and sit-stand desks ($900) and two stationary bikes that double as recharging stations ($2,400).
Overall, an eclectic assortment of goods and a jarring sight for those who once used them.
"Weird to see the Twitter office on auction," tweeted Kevin Weil, the company's former senior vice president of product. "Great memories from a different era."
Scott Budman, an NBC News tech and business reporter, pointed out some familiar items: A table where he interviewed former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey got a bid for $1,000, the espresso machine where former editorial director Karen Wickre offered him coffee is going for $1,700.
"Good luck, I guess," he wrote.
Ross Dove, chief executive of Heritage Global, the parent company of Heritage Global Partners, told the New York Times that more than 20,000 people had registered to bid online — the most of any of the firm's auctions over the last 90 years and a fact he attributes to the public's fascination with Twitter and Musk himself. He estimated that the auction would net Twitter some $1.5 million.
The auction comes at a tough time for the company, which lost many major advertisers — as well as employees, thanks to layoffs and mass resignations — after Elon Musk took over in October and has since sought to aggressively cut costs and raise revenue.
Musk — who has announced his plans to resign as CEO — said in December that the company was "not, like, in the fast lane to bankruptcy anymore."
Still, its financial outlook remains murky, with the New York Times reporting that same month that Twitter had not paid rent for its San Francisco headquarters or any global offices for weeks and was considering denying people severance payments. Employees have also discussed the possibility of selling usernames to make money, the Times reported last week.
This month, Guinness World Records confirmed that Musk had broken the record for largest amount of money lost by one individual. He lost between $180 billion and $200 billion since November 2021, largely due to the poor performance of Tesla stocks in recent years.
Musk remains the second-richest person in the world and, as of this week, is on trial for securities fraud over a series of 2018 tweets teasing a Tesla buyout that never happened.
veryGood! (92811)
Related
- Federal court filings allege official committed perjury in lawsuit tied to Louisiana grain terminal
- GOP threat to impeach a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice is driven by fear of losing legislative edge
- 5 former London police officers admit sending racist messages about Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, other royals
- Why thousands of U.S. congregations are leaving the United Methodist Church
- Former Syrian official arrested in California who oversaw prison charged with torture
- Operation to extract American researcher from one of the world’s deepest caves advances to 700m
- Art Briles was at Oklahoma game against SMU. Brent Venables says it is 'being dealt with'
- Hurricane Lee updates: No direct hit expected, but rip currents headed to East Coast
- New Zealand official reverses visa refusal for US conservative influencer Candace Owens
- Here's how to ask for a letter of recommendation (and actually get a good one.)
Ranking
- Pressure on a veteran and senator shows what’s next for those who oppose Trump
- Husband of woman murdered with an ax convicted 40 years after her death
- Federal railroad inspectors find alarming number of defects on Union Pacific this summer
- Turkey cave rescue of American Mark Dickey like Himalayan Mountain climbing underground, friend says
- Elon Musk's skyrocketing net worth: He's the first person with over $400 billion
- Australian and Indonesian forces deploy battle tanks in US-led combat drills amid Chinese concern
- Dolphins' Tyreek Hill after 215-yard game vs. Chargers: 'I feel like nobody can guard me'
- Visit from ex-NFL star Calvin Johnson helps 2 children and their families live with cancer
Recommendation
NFL Week 15 picks straight up and against spread: Bills, Lions put No. 1 seed hopes on line
Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev meet again in the US Open men’s final
India forges compromise among divided world powers at the G20 summit in a diplomatic win for Modi
Ocean cleanup group deploys barges to capture plastic in rivers
Nevada attorney general revives 2020 fake electors case
How the extreme heat is taking a toll on Texas businesses
Here's how to ask for a letter of recommendation (and actually get a good one.)
Michigan State suspends Mel Tucker after allegations he sexually harassed rape survivor