(Bloomberg) -- Elon Musk’s refusal to pay Twitter’s rent contributed to the surge in commercial real estate loan delinquencies that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. faced in the first quarter, the Financial Times reported. 

Twitter stopped paying its rent in November and Musk, the world’s richest man, told employees he doesn’t intend to restart payments or cover those past due, the FT said, citing lawsuits. Columbia Property, which is suing Twitter over the missed payments, defaulted on the loan in February. 

The value of Goldman loans to commercial real estate borrowers behind on repayments climbed 612% in the first quarter to $840 million, the FT said, citing filings. That compares with a 30% increase to more than $12 billion for the entire US banking industry, the newspaper said.

Columbia Property declined to comment to the FT, which was unable to reach Twitter for comment. 

 

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