Monday, July 6, 2020

Report: Bird Received PPP Loan, Laid Off Employees; Bird Disagrees

Santa Monica-based on-demand scooter company Bird received a PPP bailout loan worth at least $5 million, according to a report, but laid off nearly 400 employees anyway. According to The Verge, the loan came in late April, when Bird said the loan would help it retain 341 jobs. According to the report, Bird claims it was "erroneously listed" in the list of companies put out by the Treasury Department today. In a public statement, Bird CEO Travis VanderZanden said in a response on Twitter: "Bird decided not to move forward with PPP b/c we felt like the money was more needed by small local businesses. Citi will confirm we spoke but we never actually applied for the loan and therefore didn't receive any loan money."