Elon Musk covers the ‘w’ on Twitter HQ sign in San Francisco

Twitter owner Elon Musk has made a very strange change to the signage outside the company’s San Francisco headquarters.

Elon Musk has had the “w” in the Twitter sign hanging outside the company’s San Francisco headquarters covered so that it looks like the word says “titter”.

On Sunday, the owner of the social media platform, who bought the company last year in a $A68 billion deal, tweeted: “Our landlord at SF HQ says we’re legally required to keep sign as Twitter & cannot remove ‘w’, so we painted it background colour. Problem solved!”

In a subsequent tweet, the Tesla and Space X boss joked: “They tried to muffle our titter.”

While many at first thought the prank wasn’t real, several San Francisco Twitter users posted images showing the “w” in the company name obscured, New York Post reports.

Some on Twitter, including programmer William LeGate, reacted negatively to the stunt, tweeting: “Elon Musk, in a remarkable show of maturity, has removed the ‘w’ from Twitter’s logo outside their San Francisco HQ.”

Elon Musk had the “w” in the Twitter sign hanging from the company’s San Francisco headquarters painted in white. Picture: Twitter/@williamlegate

The sign is seen before the “w” was painted over. Picture: Amy Osborne/AFP

On Monday, Mr Musk also changed the name that appears on his Twitter profile to “Harry Bōlz”, which is slang for “Hairy B*lls”.

Mr Musk has made waves at Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters since acquiring the company last year.

As the deal was about to officially close, Mr Musk walked into the building carrying a sink, a play on the popular internet meme: “Let that sink in.”

He has also sought to auction off items from the company offices including kitchen appliances, Twitter sculptures, furniture and office plants.

Our landlord at SF HQ says we’re legally required to keep sign as Twitter & cannot remove “w”, so we painted it background color. Problem solved! pic.twitter.com/1iFjccTbUq

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 10, 2023

In late December, Twitter was sued by its landlord for allegedly being behind on rent. At the time the lawsuit was filed, the company was said to have owed over $US136,000 ($A204,000) in unpaid rent.

Mr Musk also ran afoul of San Francisco zoning regulations when he had staffers sleep in their offices overnight – prompting the city to launch a review.

Mr Musk’s management team laid off thousands of employees and cut costs. Cleaning and security staff were also purged.

Employees were also directed to delay paying contractors or vendors, including accountants and consultants working on key regulatory projects.

In February, Mr Musk tweeted that the first three months of his stewardship were “extremely tough” for the company as he scrambled to “save Twitter from bankruptcy”.

Musk on Monday also changed the name that appears on his Twitter profile. Picture: Twitter/Ariel Zilber

“Wouldn’t wish that pain on anyone,” Mr Musk tweeted on Sunday.

“Twitter still has challenges, but is now trending to break even if we keep at it. Public support is much appreciated!” he said.

Complicating matters for Twitter is Mr Musk’s in-your-face management style and his revamping of content moderation policies, which have prompted advertisers to flee.

Fourteen of the top 30 advertisers on Twitter stopped all advertising on the platform after Mr Musk took charge on October 27, according to estimates by research firm Pathmatics, which were cited by Reuters.

Four advertisers reduced spending between 92 per cent and 98.7 per cent from the week before Musk’s acquisition through to the end of the year.

Overall, advertising spending by the top 30 companies fell by 42 per cent to an estimated $US53.8 million ($A80.8 million) for November and December combined, according to Pathmatics, despite an increase in spending by six of them.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission