Chinese government officials have reportedly discussed a scenario in which ByteDance would sell TikTok’s US arm to Elon Musk, if the Supreme Court upholds the law banning the app on January 19.
Bloomberg reports that China would strongly prefer TikTok to remain owned by ByteDance, but says government officials have considered a sale to Musk as part of a broader plan to work with new President Donald Trump’s administration. In this scenario, Musk’s X would acquire TikTok US, absorbing the vertical video platform’s 170 million US users and billions in potential advertising revenue.
A TikTok spokesperson called the report “pure fiction” in a statement to Variety.
The report says it’s unclear how much ByteDance and TikTok know about discussions in China over Musk’s sale, which could highlight China’s alleged influence over the platform that gave rise to Musk in the first place. this law.
