[theanti9]

https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/twitter-employee-laws...

> "Elon doesn't pay rent"

Among the many absolutely bonkers things in there, Elon appears to believe he just doesn't need to pay for things.

[Quarrel]

I've seen this several times and just not really understood the end game.

Surely they'll be pursued for the rent (plus costs) & evicted along the way. The landlords aren't individual employees he can just shit on and assume they won't sue.

[theanti9]

For me this was the final nail in the coffin for the "Elon's just playing 4D chess we don't understand" argument and really just shows that he's a dude that thinks he can do whatever he wants with no consequences, because so far there haven't really been any.

If there were a logic to it, I'd guess that it's more important he make the interest payments on the billions of dollars in loans he took out for the purchase than it is to not get sued for non-payment of a lease.

[Ekaros]

Maybe the end game is just to drive it to bankruptcy... And then get someone to swoop in with some marginal value. But paying for things would make it happen faster...

So maybe it is to burn it all down.

[pempem]

They can sue but do you know what the return of the suit is? Do you get your cash or do you spend cash + get less than what you were owed?

Most things settle and they settle for far less than the original amount. "It's just not worth it" the individual says. That's what Musk and others bank on.

[FireBeyond]

Damn, that filing doesn't mince words:

> Led by Musk and the cadres of sycophants

> Musk proceeded in line with the principle on which he generally operates: that keeping his contractual promises is optional.

and that's just in the first couple of pages, many more.

[JumpCrisscross]

> Elon appears to believe he just doesn't need to pay for things

He's the equity anchor for the last cycle's top-tick LBO. He's trying to get to unlevered cash-flow positivity so he can renegotiate the debt from a position of relative strength. (That or wait until a regulator fines Twitter out of existence so he can blame them.)

Either way, he's–perhaps rationally–hyperbolically discounting. Cash today is worth more than that cash tomorrow plus court fees and reputation.

[Ameo]

Page 26 line 188 has notes on this specifically

[toomuchtodo]

"When informed of the risks of termination fees during a meeting on November 3, 2022, Steve Davis said "Well, we just won't pay those. We just won't pay landlords." Davis also told Hawkins, "We just won't pay rent." Twitter specifically directed Hawkins to breach its leases, whether by terminating without any good faith justification under the terms of the applicable lease, or by simply stealing from the landlords by intentionally remaining on the premises without any intention of paying amounts Twitter knew and believed were its legal obligation to pay.

(good reference Ameo)

[thefz]

> Among the many absolutely bonkers things in there, Elon appears to believe he just doesn't need to pay for things.

I just really really hope his hubris drives him into the ground.

[dylan604]

That's how rich people stay rich. I've many a personal anecdote where I've been part of the staff working events for 1%ers where they are squabbling over prices just for the kicks of convincing someone else to take less money or the sense of getting something someone else wouldn't get. Then they joke about it with the friends. This is not unique to Elon by any stretch. He just does it in a much more public manner than I have ever seen. Even more blatant than Trump which is infamous for this business tactic.

[KerrAvon]

What's insane is that it's not actually how they stay rich. They'd be rich anyway. Most humans could live very comfortably with only the interest from one of their cash holding accounts. It's just arbitrary cruelty to other people because it makes them feel superior and salves their nouveau riche insecurities.