TikTok Ban Wild Card: Elon Musk as a Potential Buyer, Report Says
China is reportedly exploring the possibility of selling TikTok’s U.S. operations to Elon Musk, Bloomberg reports.
China is said to be considering such a move if TikTok cannot avoid sanctions. Possible U.S. ban And the app cannot be sold to approved buyers in the United States until Sunday, January 19th. Lawmakers from both major parties are concerned that TikTok, which has more than 170 million U.S. users, could become a Threats to national security due to its relationship with the Chinese government.
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule this week Comply with the law If the company is not sold, TikTok will not be available in the United States.
Read more: Here’s what you need to know if TikTok is banned in the US
TikTok’s parent company, China-owned ByteDance, prefers to retain ownership of the platform. But Musk is reportedly willing to acquire it and integrate it with X (formerly Twitter) as part of a contingency plan, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.
A TikTok spokesperson told CNET: “We cannot be expected to comment on content that is purely fictional.” It is unclear whether ByteDance was aware of or involved in the reported discussions.
X did not respond to a request for comment.
The potential deal, which is said to be only in the preliminary stages of consideration, could bring TikTok’s millions of U.S. users into Musk’s domain, which could improve X’s ability to attract advertisers. Additionally, Musk’s AI company xAI powers X’s AI chatbot Gronk – Can leverage the data generated by TikTok to advance its work.
The report suggests that the Chinese government views the sale to Musk as part of a broader strategy to improve relations with the incoming Trump administration. President-elect Donald Trump, who took office for his second term on January 20, initially supported a TikTok ban during his first term but has since urged the Supreme Court press pause button Regarding the ban, give him time to find a solution. Musk was one of Trump’s closest advisers during the transition Spending more than $250 billion to support Trump’s campaign.
TikTok’s valuation is estimated to be between $40 billion and $50 billion.
