Twitter Is Auctioning Off Eames Office Furniture, Other Items From Its HQ
Photo 247433695 © Takako Hatayama Phillips | Dreamstime.com
It almost seems like Twitter as you know it is dead. Following a shift of hands, an incredulous workforce reshuffle, and a messy start with new features, the social network appears to be having a rocky rebirth under Elon Musk. Whether they’re growing pains or the beginnings of a tumultuous streak is up in the air.
Now, it looks like the Twitter headquarters will be re-furnished to signal a new start. The company has put up hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of memorabilia, furniture, and industrial equipment from its San Francisco office under the auction block, enabling fans to cop fragments from the Twitter graveyard for as low as US$25. That’s about the price of three months of Twitter Blue (or two months for Twitter users on iOS), to do Musk’s math for you.
Heritage Global Partners has listed 265 of Twitter’s “surplus corporate office assets” on online auction platform BidSpotter ahead of an official January 18 sale. The good news for the masses is that most of the stuff are office items that belong in any setting, so even if you don’t buy into the drama, you’ll at least be able to keep a timeless piece of furniture for a (potentially) discounted price.
The bulk of the auction comprises things like Eames office chairs, La Marzocco Strada espresso machines (which VICE reports to have an original worth of over US$20,000), standing desks, laser projectors, and digital whiteboards. There’s even a bike charging station.
Interestingly, the auction features hordes of industrial kitchen equipment such as a commercial-level meat slicer, a vegetable dryer, a beer dispenser, and an industrial braising pan. What Twitter has been brewing in its kitchen is a mystery—but it’s definitely not tweets.
Only two of the items are Twitter exclusives, like a Twitter bird statue and a six-foot-tall ‘@’ sculpture that doubles as a tall planter.
Most pieces fall in the US$25 to US$50 range, with the priciest lot—for a set of 50 Knoll ergonomic chairs—opening at US$1,250. If you’re lucky, you will be able to grab one of 40 available digital whiteboards for just US$50. The Twitter bird statue starts from US$25, but considering its rarity you’ll probably have to engage in a cockfight to acquire it.
Although Twitter is currently knee-deep in debt, Nick Dove, President of Heritage Global Partners, scoffs at the notion that the company is hoping to cover some of its losses through the auction. After all, the social media platform was bought out for US$44 billion, while “we’re selling a couple of chairs and desks and computers,” he tells Fortune.
As a sigh of relief, there will still be some furniture left at the headquarters if everything at the auction does get snapped up. It’s been reported that Musk has converted parts of the HQ into bleak “hotel rooms” filled with unmade mattresses and telepresence monitors for workers who may need to pull an all-nighter.
