On Tuesday, TikTok dismissed a Bloomberg report claiming that China was considering selling its U.S. operations of the platform to billionaire Elon Musk, calling the story “pure fiction.” The report suggested that Chinese officials were exploring the idea of Musk’s social media platform, X, acquiring TikTok from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, and merging it with Twitter (now X).
TikTok, responding to the report, stated it would not comment on what it referred to as “pure fiction.” The report estimated that TikTok’s U.S. operations could be valued between $40 billion and $50 billion, though it was unclear how Musk might finance the transaction or whether he would need to sell other assets to fund the purchase.
This speculation comes as TikTok faces a U.S. law mandating ByteDance to either sell TikTok’s U.S. operations or shut it down. The law, which aims to address national security concerns regarding data privacy and espionage fears, is set to take effect Sunday, just before President-elect Donald Trump assumes office. U.S. officials claim that TikTok could be used by Beijing for data collection and propaganda dissemination, though both China and ByteDance have denied these allegations.
TikTok has challenged the law, taking the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court, where justices expressed skepticism over claims that forcing a sale would violate First Amendment rights.
While the idea of a sale to Musk remains speculative, it comes amid ongoing tensions between the U.S. and China, particularly concerning tech and trade. Musk, who is a close ally of Trump, operates Tesla, which has significant operations in China. The Bloomberg report also noted that Chinese officials have not yet reached a consensus on how to proceed with TikTok’s situation.
