Twitter has reportedly stopped paying rent on its offices and is considering not paying severance packages to laid-off workers

Story by sdelouya@insider.com (Samantha Delouya) •

Tayfun Coskun/Getty Images© Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Elon Musk is increasingly using radical cost-cutting measures at Twitter, according to the New York Times.
Twitter is reportedly no longer paying rent on its office buildings, and Musk has told workers not to pay vendors.
Management is reportedly weighing the possibility of not paying severance to former employees.

In Elon Musk's quest to make Twitter a more profitable company, he is reportedly implementing increasingly extreme cost-cutting measures.

According to the New York Times, Twitter has stopped paying rent for any of its offices, including its San Francisco headquarters, and Musk has instructed employees to no longer pay Twitter's vendors. The Times, citing a recent New Hampshire lawsuit, found that Twitter has also refused to pay nearly $200,000 in private plane flights taken in late October.

Last month, in an effort to save money, Twitter laid off 50% of its more than 7,000-person workforce, promising that fired US-based employees would get 3 months' pay, including 60 days of salaried pay, and one month of severance. The Times reports that Musk's team is now weighing the possibility of not paying the severance at all, and risking lawsuits from disgruntled former workers.

Twitter has also recently listed office supplies for auction in another cost-cutting attempt.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.

Musk appears to be trying to save money as Twitter gears up for multiple legal battles, according to the Times. Twitter is reportedly facing an investigation from the Federal Trade Commission, and a potential class-action lawsuit from former employees. Musk has shaken up Twitter's legal department in recent weeks and has reportedly brought in lawyers from one of his other companies, SpaceX, to help run it.

The company also faces a hefty interest bill: owing roughly $1 billion in annual payments to banks due to the money Musk borrowed to help finance his $44 billion purchase of Twitter.