Chinese officials are working on options for TikTok to continue operating in the U.S., including Elon Musk taking control of the app.

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Simone Del Rosario Business Correspondent

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China floats Elon Musk as possible future owner of US TikTok: Report

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Simone Del Rosario Business Correspondent

By Simone Del Rosario (Business Correspondent), Brent Jabbour (Senior Producer), Emma Stoltzfus (Video Editor)

Chinese officials are weighing options for TikTok as the popular short-form video app faces an outright ban in the U.S. on Jan. 19. One possible option they are discussing is selling its U.S. operations to X owner Elon Musk, according to a report from Bloomberg.

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The Chinese government would “strongly” prefer TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, remain the app’s owner, according to Bloomberg sources. But they have discussed Musk’s X taking over TikTok’s U.S. arm as a possible contingency.

Bloomberg said it is unclear whether Musk, X, TikTok or ByteDance are involved in these discussions with Chinese government officials.

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Despite his ownership of a rival social media platform, Musk has adamantly maintained that TikTok shouldn’t be banned.

In my opinion, TikTok should not be banned in the USA, even though such a ban may benefit the 𝕏 platform.

Doing so would be contrary to freedom of speech and expression. It is not what America stands for.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 19, 2024

“In my opinion, TikTok should not be banned in the USA, even though such a ban may benefit the X platform,” Musk posted in April. “Doing so would be contrary to freedom of speech and expression. It is not what America stands for.”

Musk has had positive dealings with the Chinese government as part of his role as CEO of Tesla.

Recently, President-elect Donald Trump said TikTok has a “warm spot” in his heart, despite being the first president to propose banning the app on national security concerns during his first administration.

“We’ll take a look at TikTok,” he said in December. “I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I won youth by 34 points. And there are those that say that TikTok has something to do with it.”

Based on a Tufts University analysis of Associated Press data, Vice President Kamala Harris won the under-30 vote by four points, though Trump did make major gains in the age group and won under-30 men by 14 points, a group he lost in 2020.

In recent months, ByteDance hoped the situation could be resolved in the courts. Last week, the Supreme Court heard arguments over whether the ban should be upheld.

The people cited in Bloomberg’s report said Beijing may get more involved in the negotiations, despite ByteDance’s repeated claims it operates independently from the Chinese government. Chinese officials see it as an opportunity to work with the Trump administration, with promises of tariffs and export controls on the docket.

A day before the Supreme Court heard arguments over TikTok, billionaire and former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt’s group put in a formal bid to take over the app.

The People’s Bid for TikTok also includes investor Kevin O’Leary and has been in the works since May 2024. The value of that offer wasn’t made public but McCourt has said he doesn’t need the highly coveted algorithm as part of the deal, which could significantly decrease the value of U.S. operations.

Tags: ByteDance, China, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, People’s Republic of China, Supreme Court, TikTok, X

[Simone Del Rosario]

Chinese officials facing an outright ban of TikTok in the U-S are weighing whether Elon Musk should take over the app. That’s according to a report from Bloomberg.

Bloomberg’s sources say China would “strongly” prefer TikTok remain in the hands of its parent company ByteDance. But with a U.S. ban set to take effect January 19, officials have discussed Musk’s X taking over the platform.

At this time, it’s unclear whether Musk, X, TikTok, or ByteDance are involved in these discussions with these Chinese government officials.

That said, Musk has had positive dealings with the Chinese government as Tesla built its Gigafactory Shanghai.

So what has Musk said about TikTok in the past? Even though the world’s richest person owns a rival social media platform, he has maintained TikTok should not be banned in the U.S.

In April, he wrote on X, “In my opinion, TikTok should not be banned in the USA, even though such a ban may benefit the X platform. Doing so would be contrary to freedom of speech and expression. It is not what America stands for.”

President-elect Trump’s first administration started the ball rolling on talks of banning TikTok. But he’s come around on the app since November’s election.

[Donald Trump]

“We’ll take a look at TikTok. You know, I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I won youth by 34 points. And there are those that say that TikTok has something to do with it.”

[Simone]

Based on a Tufts University analysis of Associated Press data, Vice President Kamala Harris won the under-30 vote by four points, though Trump did make major gains in the age group. And won under-30 men by 14 points, a group he lost in 2020.

Back to TikTok. ByteDance was hoping the situation would be resolved in the courts. Last week, the Supreme Court heard arguments over whether the ban should be upheld.

Bloomberg’s report says Beijing may get more involved in the negotiations, despite ByteDance’s repeated claims it operates independently from the Chinese government. Chinese officials see it as an opportunity to work with the Trump administration with promises of tariffs and export controls on the docket.

But China and ByteDance have more than one iron in the fire when it comes to keeping TikTok on the screens of American phones.

A day before the Supreme Court heard arguments over TikTok, billionaire and former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt’s group put in a formal bid to take over the app.

[FRANK MCCOURT | FOUNDER, PROJECT LIBERTY]

“The key to unlock this deal is to buy U.S. TikTok without the algorithm. I think it’s clear that ByteDance is not going to sell with the algorithm.

“We spent 5 years building a clean, made-in-America tech stack where we can onboard the 170 million users without the algorithm and without any China IP.

While the value of the so-called “People’s Bid for TikTok” wasn’t made public, we do know that a shark is involved.

[KEVIN O’LEARY]

It’s what we want to do to save the platform for Americans, I think it’s the right thing to do, and the company should want that too. This is the only path I see forward. And so let’s see what happens. It’s going to be a very interesting week.

China floats Elon Musk as possible future owner of US TikTok: Report

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