China mulls potential sale of TikTok US to Elon Musk: Bloomberg
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Chinese officials are reportedly discussing the potential sale of TikTok's US operations to Elon Musk amid an impending ban.
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Elon Musk listens as President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with the House GOP conference, on November 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP)
Chinese officials are in early discussions about the possibility of selling TikTok's US operations to billionaire Elon Musk in case the short-video app faces an imminent ban, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.
The report indicated that Beijing officials would prefer TikTok to remain under the control of its parent company, ByteDance. However, it also noted that TikTok’s US operations could either be sold through a competitive process or through a government-arranged deal, suggesting that the app’s future is no longer entirely in ByteDance’s hands.
China’s government has a “golden share” in ByteDance, which several members of Congress claim gives the government power over TikTok.
Under one scenario, Musk’s social media platform X would take control of TikTok US and run the business together, the report said. Officials have yet to reach a consensus about how to proceed, according to Bloomberg News.
In response to the report, a TikTok spokesperson said, "We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction." However, it is unclear to what extent ByteDance is aware of the discussions or Musk's and TikTok's roles in them. There is also no information on whether ByteDance, TikTok, and Musk have had any conversations regarding a possible deal.
TikTok has previously stated that the government’s stake "does not affect ByteDance’s global operations outside of China, including TikTok."
Elon Musk, X, and China’s Cyberspace Administration and Ministry of Commerce did not immediately respond to requests for comment. On that note, last week, the Supreme Court appeared inclined to support a law that could force a sale or ban of TikTok in the US by January 19, citing national security concerns related to China.
Last year, the Senate voted to pass a bill on April 24 that will either ban TikTok or force a sale of the app, giving its China-based parent company ByteDance up to one year to divest its crown jewel before being banned from US app stores.
The bill passed in the House on Saturday with 79 senators voting in favor and 18 against, by a margin of 360 to 58, as part of a foreign aid package for Ukraine, Taiwan, and "Israel".
Why is the US banning TikTok?
Republican Montana Sen. Josh Hawley asked the Biden administration on November 8 last year to ban TikTok because of its content about the war on Gaza, which he claims favors pro-Palestinian voices.
The request was sent to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, chair of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) with the authority to block foreign involvement in corporations and markets on certain national security grounds.
In it, Hawley wrote that the war is a “crucial test case” for the app's influence as a media organization and source of news as he expressed concern about what he referred to as “the ubiquity of anti-Israel content.”
