With the January 19 deadline for the sale or shutdown of TikTok quickly approaching, the platform’s Chinese owners are reportedly considering whether to allow tech mogul Elon Musk to take over their US operations. First reported by Bloomberg, unnamed sources close to the matter indicate that discussions about the sale are still preliminary, but may be confirmed publicly in the likely event that TikTok parent company ByteDance is unsuccessful in persuading the Supreme Court to overturn the impending ban.
According to the outlet, Chinese officials would prefer that TikTok remain under control of ByteDance (and by extension the Chinese government). However, during Supreme Court arguments on the company’s appeal, the justices seemed disinclined to reverse the legislative action against the popular app. As Valuetainment previously reported, President Joe Biden signed legislation in April of last year requiring ByteDance to sell off TikTok’s American operations by January 19 or else completely shut down the app in the US.
TikTok has already been banned from US government phones due to concerns that the Chinese Communist Party can access user data collected by the app.
Despite multiple attempts to contest what it calls an “unconstitutional” ban, ByteDance has been unsuccessful in overturning the ban, reportedly forcing company leadership to search for a contingency plan.
Related: Venezuela Fines TikTok $10 Million for Children Killed by Viral Challenges
According to Bloomberg’s source, one such plan could see X Corp, Musk’s existing social media company, take control of TikTok US, running the two businesses together. As the outlet notes, “with more than 170 million users in the US, TikTok could bolster X’s efforts to attract advertisers. Musk also founded a separate artificial intelligence company, xAI, that could benefit from the huge amounts of data generated from TikTok.”
In addition to keeping TikTok operational in the US, this option would also give company leadership a leg up with the incoming Trump administration. Musk contributed more than $250 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign fund and has been appointed to run the newly-formed Department of Government Efficiency. With this in mind, a partnership with Musk could help ByteDance curry favor with the new president.
Trump himself took steps towards banning TikTok during his first term but has since had a change of heart on the issue—even going so far as to join the app during his campaign and urge the Supreme Court to delay the ban.
Notably, Bloomberg’s sources do not indicate whether Musk has actually been approached about the possibility of this deal, nor do they clarify how much ByteDance leadership knows about these alleged plans.
None of the parties involved have made public comments indicating that such a deal is in the works, and when approached for comment by Forbes, representatives for ByteDance said that they “can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction.” The company has repeatedly said that it has no plans to sell its US operation.
Nevertheless, the possibility of Musk making another major social media purchase has led to considerable speculation. In 2022, after growing disillusioned by the platform’s content restrictions, Musk paid $44 billion for a complete buyout of Twitter, which he later rebranded as X. This left him with multiple outstanding loans and required him to leverage many of his other high-value assets. TikTok is currently valued between $40-50 billion, making it unclear whether Musk could manage to muster up the cash for a second buyout.
Though TikTok is technically a rival to Musk’s X in the social media space, the Tesla CEO’s position as a “free speech absolutist” has led him to speak out against the ban.
“In my opinion, TikTok should not be banned in the USA, even though such a ban may benefit the 𝕏 platform,” Musk wrote shortly after the TikTok ban was signed. “Doing so would be contrary to freedom of speech and expression. It is not what America stands for.”
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
However, Musk is not the only prominent American businessman with a reported interest in taking the reins of TikTok. “Shark Tank” star and investor Kevin O’Leary partnered with billionaire Frank McCourt earlier this month to lead “The People’s Bid for TikTok,” citing their desire to preserve the privacy of the platform’s 170 million American users.
I’m excited to share that I’m partnering with Frank McCourt and the visionary team at @pro_jectliberty to lead The People’s Bid for TikTok!
This isn’t just about buying TikTok’s U.S. assets. It’s about something much bigger: protecting the privacy of 170 million American users.… pic.twitter.com/kzxk5RfEgY
— Kevin O'Leary aka Mr. Wonderful (@kevinolearytv) January 6, 2025
Amazon has also been suggested as a potential buyer, as has Microsoft and a corporate consortium between Walmart and Oracle.
It is unclear whether the Supreme Court will return a verdict before the January 19 deadline, which falls one day before Trump will be sworn into office.
Last week, Valuetainment’s own Tom “The Biz Doc” Ellsworth capped off his list of business predictions for 2025 by laying out the case for Musk’s TikTok takeover. Watch the full video to see what else 2025 might have in store for the business world:
Connor Walcott is the lead writer for Valuetainment.com. Follow Connor on X and look for him on VT’s “The Unusual Suspects.”
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