China mulls potential sale of TikTok US to Musk: Report

Chinese officials are in preliminary talks about a potential option that involves the sale of TikTok's United States operations to billionaire Elon Musk should the short-video app fail to fend off a potential ban, Bloomberg News reported on Monday (Jan 13), citing people familiar with the matter.

Chinese officials prefer that TikTok remain under the control of parent Bytedance, the report said, adding that the company is contesting the ban with an appeal to the US Supreme Court.

TikTok's US operations could either be sold through a competitive process or an arrangement by the government, the report said, suggesting that the future of the app is no longer solely in ByteDance's control.

China's government has a "golden share" in ByteDance, which several members of Congress have said 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, adding that the Chinese officials have yet to reach any firm consensus about how to proceed.

"We can't be expected to comment on pure fiction," a TikTok spokesperson said, responding to the report.

It remains unclear how much ByteDance is aware of the discussions, or of Musk and TikTok's involvement, and there is no information on whether ByteDance, TikTok and Musk have engaged in any talks regarding a possible deal.

TikTok has previously said that the government's stake "has no bearing on ByteDance's global operations outside of China, including TikTok".

Elon Musk, X, and China's Cyberspace and Ministry of Commerce did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last week, the Supreme Court seemed inclined to uphold a law that would force a sale or ban of the popular short-video app TikTok in the US by Jan 19, with the justices focusing on the national security concerns about China that prompted the crackdown.