King Charles’ Crown Estate sues Twitter over unpaid London rent

Court proceedings have been issued in a dispute over Twitter's West End headquarters. Photos / Getty Images

Elon Musk’s Twitter is being sued by the Crown Estate after allegedly failing to pay the rent on its London headquarters, the Telegraph can disclose.

The estate, which belongs to the King, filed a claim against Twitter Inc and its UK subsidiary in the High Court.

A Crown Estate spokesman said that court proceedings had been issued in the dispute over Twitter’s UK headquarters in the West End.

The Crown Estate administers thousands of hectares of Crown-owned land across the UK, including 92ha in London’s West End.

Twitter's Piccadilly Circus headquarters in London, United Kingdom. Photo / Getty Images

It comes after Musk, the world’s second richest man, bought Twitter for US$44bn ($67.8bn) in October and subsequently made more than half its staff redundant.

The job cuts, followed by a wave of resignations, has resulted in the departure of around 5000 over the past three months. Twitter now employs around 2300 people, according to Musk, down from 7400 at the end of October.

Earlier this month, staff at Twitter’s Singapore office were ordered to work from home after the company reportedly failed to pay its rent there on time.

All Twitter signs and logos have been removed from its London headquarters in Air St in Piccadilly Circus but a member of staff said the company still had a presence at the site.

Although the social media company signed a lease for the third floor for £2.6m ($5m) per year in 2021, the dispute is believed to be over Twitter’s first floor office in the same building. It has occupied the first floor since 2014.

A spokesman for the Crown Estate said it had tried to contact Twitter about the alleged rent arrears. Twitter did not respond to the Telegraph’s request for comment.