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Elon Musk has apparently come up as a candidate to buy TikTok if the U.S. government’s ban goes through. Earlier this year, a law was passed requiring TikTok to be sold off from its China-based parent company, ByteDance, or banned in the United States.
This week the, Supreme Court heard arguments regarding the ban and could decide in the coming days on whether or not it will go through.
On Monday, Bloomberg reported that Bytedance is considering selling TikTok’s US operations to Musk if the ban is still intact on January 19th due to Musk’s strong relationship with Donald Trump.
Via Bloomberg
“Chinese officials are evaluating a potential option that involves Elon Musk acquiring the US operations of TikTok if the company fails to fend off a controversial ban on the short-video app, according to people familiar with the matter.”
“Beijing officials strongly prefer that TikTok remains under the ownership of parent ByteDance Ltd., the people say, and the company is contesting the impending ban with an appeal to the US Supreme Court. But the justices signaled during arguments on Jan. 10 that they are likely to uphold the law.”
“Senior Chinese officials had already begun to debate contingency plans for TikTok as part of an expansive discussion on how to work with Donald Trump’s administration, one of which involves Musk, said the people, asking not to be identified revealing confidential discussions.”
TikTok immediately shot down the rumor that Musk was buying TikTok.
TikTok denies Bloomberg’s report that China is considering selling the app to Elon Musk, in statement to Variety:
“We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction” pic.twitter.com/Tpimviw7IX
— Pop Base (@PopBase) January 14, 2025