4 ms·

Notably, they paid $90M to cancel the lease.

by lsb 6y ago

stingraycharles 6y ago
Which is perfectly normal between businesses; pay $90MM to get rid of a $440MM lease contract. Heck, as a consumer, if I want to get rid of my car lease I need to pay a hefty penalty as well.
- lsb 6y ago
  For a company to pay almost a hundred million dollars to not rent office space in downtown SF, that's the abnormal part, compared to 2010-2019.
  - the-dude 6y ago
    Are you suggesting they would have walked free between '10-'19 ? I am quite certain they wouldn't have.
    - iso947 6y ago
      10-19 they would never have got rid of space - and arguably other potential tenants would have paid them to relinquish their rights
      - ulfw 6y ago
        Exactly that. They could have easily found another renter/sublet it for no money lost (potentially even gained) those days.
      - sulam 6y ago
        Yep, one company I work with closely made something like $16M through subleasing or leaseback (I forget the exact arrangement) in early 2019 after they decided to reduce their office footprint.
- Hnrobert42 6y ago
  The notable part is not that they had to pay it. It’s that they chose to pay it. It reveals the magnitude of shift to WFH.
  - HenryBemis 6y ago
    Assumption: same performance, increased employee satisfaction, lower costs, fewer expenses (company and employees). Companies now just need a skeleton crew for IT Ops, HR, Accounting. Especially for companies like Pinterest that have probably seen their revenue explode, it's a win win win.
    - tonyedgecombe 6y ago
      Has their revenue exploded? I thought advertising revenue was down this year.
      - ckdarby 6y ago
        Etsy & Pinterest are both public companies and this info can be found in their quarterly filings. TL;DR Yes, revenue has increased. Etsy is spending very strong in advertising with Pinterest getting large amounts of it. Disclaimer: Position in both companies.
        tonyedgecombe 6y ago
        Actually it seems to have flattened off: https://www.statista.com/statistics/995107/pinterest-quarterly-revenue-worldwide/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/995107/pinterest-quarter...
        ckdarby 6y ago
        I didn't entirely write what I meant correctly. Etsy's revenue has greatly increase: https://www.statista.com/statistics/409407/etsy-quarterly-revenue/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/409407/etsy-quarterly-re... A lot of Etsy's money did go to advertising. This has ended up in Pinterest's pocket. The fact Pinterest is flat during covid and entirely being an advertising company I consider still growth of revenue. The global advertising spend has greatly decreased, it'll eventually pick back up. But, yes, you are entirely correct, on a direct statement level, revenue is flat.

Notably, they paid $90M to cancel the lease.

by lsb 6y ago

Notably, they paid $90M to cancel the lease.

Which is perfectly normal between businesses; pay $90MM to get rid of a $440MM lease contract. Heck, as a consumer, if I want to get rid of my car lease I need to pay a hefty penalty as well.

lsb 6y ago
For a company to pay almost a hundred million dollars to not rent office space in downtown SF, that's the abnormal part, compared to 2010-2019.
- the-dude 6y ago
  Are you suggesting they would have walked free between '10-'19 ? I am quite certain they wouldn't have.
  - iso947 6y ago
    10-19 they would never have got rid of space - and arguably other potential tenants would have paid them to relinquish their rights
    - ulfw 6y ago
      Exactly that. They could have easily found another renter/sublet it for no money lost (potentially even gained) those days.
    - sulam 6y ago
      Yep, one company I work with closely made something like $16M through subleasing or leaseback (I forget the exact arrangement) in early 2019 after they decided to reduce their office footprint.
Hnrobert42 6y ago
The notable part is not that they had to pay it. It’s that they chose to pay it. It reveals the magnitude of shift to WFH.
- HenryBemis 6y ago
  Assumption: same performance, increased employee satisfaction, lower costs, fewer expenses (company and employees). Companies now just need a skeleton crew for IT Ops, HR, Accounting. Especially for companies like Pinterest that have probably seen their revenue explode, it's a win win win.
  - tonyedgecombe 6y ago
    Has their revenue exploded? I thought advertising revenue was down this year.
    - ckdarby 6y ago
      Etsy & Pinterest are both public companies and this info can be found in their quarterly filings. TL;DR Yes, revenue has increased. Etsy is spending very strong in advertising with Pinterest getting large amounts of it. Disclaimer: Position in both companies.
      - tonyedgecombe 6y ago
        Actually it seems to have flattened off: https://www.statista.com/statistics/995107/pinterest-quarterly-revenue-worldwide/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/995107/pinterest-quarter...
        ckdarby 6y ago
        I didn't entirely write what I meant correctly. Etsy's revenue has greatly increase: https://www.statista.com/statistics/409407/etsy-quarterly-revenue/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/409407/etsy-quarterly-re... A lot of Etsy's money did go to advertising. This has ended up in Pinterest's pocket. The fact Pinterest is flat during covid and entirely being an advertising company I consider still growth of revenue. The global advertising spend has greatly decreased, it'll eventually pick back up. But, yes, you are entirely correct, on a direct statement level, revenue is flat.