China mulls potential sale of TikTok US to Elon Musk: report

Chinese officials are mulling a potential option that involves the sale of TikTok’s US operations to billionaire Elon Musk if the company fails to fend off a potential ban, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.


Chinese officials are mulling a potential option that involves the sale of TikTok's U.S. operations to billionaire Elon Musk
Chinese officials are mulling a potential option that involves the sale of TikTok’s US operations to billionaire Elon Musk. Jack Gruber / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Chinese officials prefer that TikTok remain under the control of parent Bytedance, the report said, adding that the company is contesting the ban with an appeal to the US Supreme Court.

Under one scenario, Musk’s social media platform X would take control of TikTok US and run the business together, the report said, adding that the Chinese officials have yet to reach any firm consensus about how to proceed and their deliberations are still preliminary.


A person holds a placard on the day justices hear oral arguments in a bid by TikTok and its China-based parent company, ByteDance, to block a law intended to force the sale of the short-video app by Jan. 19
A person holds a placard on the day justices hear oral arguments in a bid by TikTok and its China-based parent company, ByteDance, to block a law intended to force the sale of the short-video app by Jan. 19. REUTERS

TikTok declined to comment, while Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment. X could not immediately be reached for a comment.

The Cyberspace Administration of China and China’s Ministry of Commerce, government agencies that could be involved in decisions about TikTok’s future, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Last week, the Supreme Court seemed inclined to uphold a law that would force a sale or ban of the popular short-video app TikTok in the United States by Jan. 19, with the justices focusing on the national security concerns about China that prompted the crackdown.

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