Elon Musk hits back at San Francisco probe of makeshift bedrooms at Twitter's headquarters

The world's richest person says the move is meant to accommodate tired employees and calls on investigators to focus elsewhere

Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco. The company has turned several conference rooms into makeshift bedrooms. Bloomberg

Elon Musk has criticised San Francisco Mayor London Breed following a report that the city is investigating Twitter for setting up bedrooms at its headquarters.

The billionaire said the microblogging company was being unfairly attacked for “providing beds for tired employees”.

In recent weeks, Twitter has turned several conference rooms at the office into makeshift bedrooms, complete with furniture such as bedside tables and armchairs, according to sources.

It no longer needs as many conference rooms now that thousands of employees have either been laid off or fired after Mr Musk’s $44 billion purchase of the company in late October.

A representative for the city’s Department of Building Inspections told the San Francisco Chronicle that it would conduct a site inspection at Twitter headquarters after a complaint about the bedrooms, a possible breach of the building code.

In a tweet, Mr Musk attached a link to a recent Chronicle report about a baby’s near death after allegedly accidentally ingesting fentanyl at a San Francisco playground.

After the incident, Ms Breed tweeted “it’s important to keep public spaces safe” and said those who sell the drug must be held accountable.

Before his Twitter purchase closed, Mr Musk floated the idea of turning the social media company’s office building into a homeless shelter, saying that employees weren’t turning up due to its now discontinued work-from-home policies.

Since acquiring the company and firing around 3,700 employees, about half of its workforce, he issued an ultimatum to the remaining staff to commit to “hardcore” Twitter.

Not only does Mr Musk expect employees to work long hours and even sleep at the office when necessary, but he has also asked many of his employees at Tesla and the Boring Company to assist him at Twitter during the transition period.

The rooms are also believed to be for those workers, some of whom travel to Twitter for work meetings, the sources said.

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