Elon Musk To Auction Twitter Signs, Backs Verbal Cage Fight With Zuck

Tom Jowitt,
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X owner Elon Musk auctions off Twitter signs, and hints at ‘verbal cage fight’ with Mark Zuckerberg instead

X owner Elon Musk is to rid himself of the last vestiges of the famous Twitter branding, with other auction.

The BBC reported that Elon Musk is putting Twitter building signs and other office items from the company up for auction just weeks after the firm’s rebranding as X.

Meanwhile Elon Musk seems to be distancing himself from his proposed cage fight with Mark Zuckerberg, and has even hinted at a possible verbal cage fight instead.

Image credit: Elon Musk
Image credit: Elon Musk

Online auction

According to the webpage for X’s invite-only auction of Twitter signs and other assets, the sell off is slated to start on 12 September and will run for two days until 14 September.

The auction is entitled “Twitter Rebranding: Online Auction Featuring Memorabilia, Art, Office Assets & More!”

The auction includes a wooden Twitter Bird coffee table, a Twitter Bird Neon Marquee sign, as well as other Twitter branded items.

There are also a number of paintings being offered, including two oil paintings of famous photographs that went viral on Twitter.

The first oil painting of a famous photo is of Ellen Degeneres’ star-studded selfie taken at the 2014 Academy Awards.

The second is the ‘four more years’ image tweeted by former US President Barack Obama after he was re-elected in November 2012.

Some of the items being auctioned may be a little difficult to get hold of – namely Twitter signs that are actually still attached to Twitter’s HQ building on 10th Street in San Francisco.

“Bird is still mounted on side of the building. Buyer is responsible for hiring an SF Licensed Company with appropriate Permits,” the auction listing states.

Besides those items, Musk is also auctioning off a broad range of items including office furniture, chairs and sofas, coffee makers, as well as musical equipment (guitars, drum kits, amplifiers, DJ booth etc) and office workstations.

This is the second such auction, after Musk in January auctioned off Twitter’s office furniture, as well as fixtures and fittings from the building, after he axed 80 percent of the workforce following his takeover last October.

A statue of Twitter’s famous bird logo was the highest value item back then, selling for $100,000.

Verbal cage fight?

Meanwhile Musk may be considering backing down from his cage fight challenge to Mark Zuckerberg.

Musk had first suggested a cage fight in June, ahead of the July launch of Threads, which made the two billionaires direct competitors.

But earlier this week Mark Zuckerberg said he is “not holding his breath” in anticipation of a cage fight with Musk, after he had proposed 26 August as a date for their fight but Musk “hasn’t confirmed”.

Musk had posted on X that he was “lifting weights throughout the day” to prepare for the fight.

“Don’t have time to work out, so I just bring them to work,” Musk had joked.

Then on Sunday Musk had tweeted that the fight would be broadcast live on X and that any proceeds would go to a “charity for veterans”.

But he also tweeted he was having an MRI scan performed on his neck and upper back this week, and “may require surgery before the fight can happen”.

Mum’s advice

And now it seems that Musk may be listening to the advice of his mother, Maye Musk, who in June had tweeted that her son and Zuckerberg should “fight with words only” instead of engaging in fisticuffs.

This week Musk floated the idea of having a “noble” debate with Zuckerberg instead of punching each other. It came after TED curator Chris Anderson proposed having a “cage match DEBATE” between the two billionaires.

“Here’s a better idea: a cage match DEBATE ‘How to Build an Amazing Future,’” Anderson had tweeted on Tuesday.

Musk appeared to agree with the suggestion, tweeting that a debate “sounds like a good idea too.”

“This is really fighting as (I believe) a noble sport,” Musk replied. “We also hope, with humility, to express our admiration for those who have fought before for noble causes.”