Elon Musk's spat with San Francisco could spur Twitter relocation

Elon Musk’s first big conflict with the city of San Francisco could result in the company fleeing the city. 
 

Elon Musk has a history of sparring with local politicians. Musk moved Tesla to Texas after clashing with Alameda County government officials, who wanted him to shut down his factories in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, he’s attracting the attention of San Francisco’s building inspectors after a complaint involving Twitter’s headquarters.
 

The biggest signal Musk is thinking of moving came when he spoke live on Twitter Spaces about why he saw Twitter’s position in San Francisco as a major hindrance to his plans of bringing “free speech” back to the service. Twitter’s physical location meant that the San Francisco’s left-leaning politics have crept into the product and its content rules, Musk said on Saturday.
 

Musk has converted several of Twitter’s extra conference rooms into makeshift bedrooms, complete with side tables and armchairs. In some photos, even the couches have travelled to help Twitter out – are apparently working so hard and for such a long time that they need to sleep at the office. But now San Francisco’s Department of Building Inspection is investigating the setup. Converting commercial space into residential space requires things like applications and permits, and Musk, of course, doesn’t appear to have done any of that.

He responded to news of the investigation by criticising Mayor London Breed on Twitter, in front of his 120 million followers.
 

On Wednesday, Musk told employees that “we will not be using other offices in the Bay Area for now” outside of San Francisco, according to Platformer, a sign the company is paring back its broader Bay Area footprint. 

After his prior corporate spats with California officials, Musk’s other prominent companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, and the Boring Company, are located in Texas, where Musk is a resident. (Governor Greg Abbott has welcomed the idea of Twitter moving to Texas as well.) That would be Twitter’s most likely future home.

“What is happening is an export of the moral framework of San Francisco to Earth,” he added.  “This is kind of a big deal and problematic.”

Bankers mull options to lighten Twitter debt

Elon Musk’s bankers are considering providing the billionaire with new margin loans backed by Tesla stock to replace some of the high-interest debt he layered on Twitter, according to sources. The margin loans are one of several options the Morgan Stanley-led bank group and Musk’s advisers have discussed to soften the burden of the $13-billion debt Twitter took on as part of Musk’s $44-billion buy.

Banks were forced to fund the debt package with their own cash after a deterioration in credit markets and a tumultuous start to Musk’s reign at Twitter made the debt difficult to syndicate to institutional investors. The firm may face annual interest costs of about $1.2 billion if the current debt structure remains in place.

Twitter Blue to cost $11 for iPhone users

Twitter plans to change the pricing of its Twitter Blue subscription product to $11, from $7.99, if paid for through its iPhone app and to $7 if paid for on the website, The Information reported on Wednesday, citing a source.

The move was likely a pushback against Apple’s 30 per cent cut on any payments made by users via apps on the iOS operating system. Reuters