Bloomberg: China In Talks To Sell TikTok To Elon Musk

The Guardian reports:

Chinese officials have reportedly held preliminary talks about a potential option to sell TikTok’s operations in the US to the billionaire Elon Musk, should the short-video app be unable to avoid an impending ban. Beijing officials prefer that TikTok remains under the control of Chinese parent Bytedance, but have discussed other options including a sale to Musk, Bloomberg reported.

“We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction,” a TikTok spokesperson said, responding to the report. The company has repeatedly said it will not sell its US operation.

TikTok’s US operations could either be sold through a competitive process or an arrangement by the government, the Bloomberg report said, suggesting that the future of the app is no longer solely in ByteDance’s control.

Read the full article. Trump megadonor Jeff Yass holds a $15 billion stake in the platform and could be part of the sale to Musk, who would likely assemble a team of billionaire mostly foreign investors as he did when he bought Twitter. The original Bloomberg report is behind a paywall.

TikTok calls report that China is exploring sale of app to Elon Musk ‘pure fiction’

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— Phil Lewis (@phillewis.bsky.social) January 13, 2025 at 8:52 PM