Chinese officials are assessing the possibility of selling TikTok’s US unit to Elon Musk if the company fails to avoid a ban on the app in the country. Bloomberg reports, citing knowledgeable sources.
Official Beijing prefers to keep TikTok under the ownership of its parent company ByteDance. The company is currently challenging the upcoming ban in the US Supreme Court. However, during a hearing on January 10, the justices hinted that they would likely uphold legislation to ban TikTok in the United States. Consequently, top Chinese officials have begun discussing alternative plans for TikTok, including the idea of involving Musk in a potential deal.
TikTok and Elon Musk
Bringing in Musk, an ally close to Donald Trump, could be an attractive solution for the Chinese government, as China is expected to have a strong say in the sale of TikTok. Musk spent more than $250 million to support Trump’s re-election and is expected to play an important role in improving government efficiency after the new president takes office.
One scenario currently being discussed is that Elon Musk’s company X (formerly Twitter) could take control of TikTok’s U.S. operations and run the businesses together. TikTok, which has more than 170 million users in the US, could help attract advertisers for X. Additionally, the artificial intelligence developed by Musk’s xAI company could utilize TikTok’s vast amounts of data.
Chinese officials have not yet reached a final decision, and the discussion is still at a preliminary stage. It is not known to what extent ByteDance is aware of these talks, or whether talks have been held between TikTok, Musk, and ByteDance.
Musk himself did not respond to a request for comment on this information. However, he has previously stated that TikTok should not be banned in the United States, even if such a ban could benefit Platform X.
These discussions by Chinese officials indicate that TikTok’s fate may no longer depend solely on ByteDance. Chinese authorities see the TikTok talks as a potential point of reconciliation in broader negotiations with the Trump administration, including on tariffs and export controls.
The Chinese government has a so-called «golden share» in one of ByteDance’s subsidiaries, which gives it some influence over the company’s strategy. However, TikTok claims that this control only applies to its Chinese subsidiary Douyin and does not affect ByteDance’s operations outside of China. At the same time, China’s export regulations restrict the sale of algorithms such as the one underlying TikTok, so any sale would have to be approved by Beijing.
Analysts have estimated TikTok’s US unit at $40-50 billion. Even for Musk, this is a significant amount. It is not known how he could finance the deal and whether the US government would agree.
Other options
ByteDance, for its part, insists on fighting the US law that requires the sale or closure of TikTok in the US for national security reasons. TikTok’s lawyers argue that this legislation violates the US Constitution.
As an alternative, TikTok may consider switching its users to a new app under a different brand name to avoid the ban. However, the effectiveness of such a move remains in question.
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