Twitter’s new CEO Linda Yaccarino has begun paying some of the company’s piling bills from vendors, reversing a controversial policy instituted by the company’s owner, Elon Musk.
The social media company is paying more than $20 million a month to Google for its cloud services, the Wall Street Journal reported on June 21. Twitter uses Google Cloud to store data and combat spam, among other purposes. Tech newsletter Platformer reported earlier this month that Twitter had ceased paying Google for its cloud services, “leading to a high-stakes conflict” between the two companies.
Settling Google bills is the first step in Yaccarino’s plan to extend Twitter’s business ties with the search giant. Last week, Yaccarino met with Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, over video call to discuss a broader partnership that could include Google’s ad spending on Twitter and granting Google access to some Twitter data through APIs, the Journal reported.
Since Musk acquired Twitter in October of 2022, Twitter has been accused of missing payments on everything from office rent to private jet flights to luxury swag boxes. The company has faced more than 20 lawsuits from landlords and other vendors as a result. While some of the lawsuits have been dismissed, others are ongoing.
Google is a longtime advertising client of Twitter. But its spending on the social media platform has plummeted since Musk’s takeover. Google’s U.S. advertising spending on Twitter was down more than 90 percent in May from a year ago, according to estimates from Sensor Tower, a market intelligence firm.
Yaccarino was appointed Twitter’s CEO in May and officially started earlier this month. She joined Twitter from NBCUniversal, where she oversaw the media giant’s advertising business.
