Given that TikTok may soon be banned in the US, Chinese officials are considering selling Elon Musk the company’s U.S. operations. Due to national security concerns, this consideration comes as the U.S. Supreme Court seems likely to uphold a legislation that might compel ByteDance, the parent firm of TikTok, to sell off its U.S. operations by January 19, 2025.
Bloomberg claims that although the Chinese government has allegedly explored the possibility of a Musk acquisition, it still prefers that the app stay in the hands of parent business ByteDance.
A possible sale to Musk would place the billionaire in a unique situation where he would be a major adviser to Donald Trump and own both the U.S. operations of one social media network and X, one of the biggest in the world.
The ByteDance report was minimized.The business told CNBC, “We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction.”
A bipartisan bill to prohibit TikTok in the US unless it finds a new owner was passed by the US Congress in April.
The site is a “national-security threat of immense depth and scale,” according to federal officials, due to purported connections with China, and resulting concerns over the sanctity of U.S. user data.
TikTok and ByteDance have argued these concerns are unfounded. They are currently challenging the TikTok ban at the Supreme Court.
However, it remains unclear how such a transaction would be structured or executed, especially given China’s export restrictions on technology like TikTok’s algorithm
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