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Kathmandu. Chinese authorities are exploring the possibility of selling American TikTok to billionaire Elon Musk as the video-sharing platform faces immediate US legal action to divest itself from China, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.
The report, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, outlined a scenario being discussed in Beijing. Musk’s social media company X would buy TikTok from Chinese owner ByteDance and integrate it into the platform formerly known as Twitter. The report estimates that TikTok’s US operations are worth between $40 billion and $50 billion.
However, it is unclear how Musk will be able to execute the transaction, even though he is currently the world’s richest person, or whether he will have to sell other assets, Bloomberg reported.
The US government passed a law last year that would require TikTok’s ByteDance to either sell the hugely popular platform or shut down. It will take effect Sunday, a day before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
The US government has accused TikTok of allowing Beijing to collect data and spy on users and that it is a propaganda tool. China and ByteDance have strongly denied the claims. TikTok has appealed the law to the US Supreme Court. The court heard oral arguments on Friday. The nine-judge panel, which was made up of a majority of conservative and liberal judges, was skeptical of TikTok’s lawyers’ argument that forcing the sale would violate the company’s First Amendment right to free speech.
Bloomberg described Beijing’s consideration of a potential Musk deal as “preliminary,” noting that Chinese officials have yet to reach an agreement on how to proceed. It was unclear how much ByteDance knew about the Chinese government’s plans, the officials said.
TikTok did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment, but Variety quoted a representative as saying, “We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction.” Musk, a close Trump ally, is expected to play an influential role in Washington over the next four years.
He also runs electric car company Tesla. Tesla has a major factory in China, and the country is one of the automaker’s biggest markets. Trump has repeatedly threatened to impose new tariffs on Chinese goods. That would expand the trade war that began during his first term. It was largely maintained and in some cases expanded by outgoing President Joe Biden.
TikTok’s rapid rise in popularity has brought its operators significant revenue. But as TikTok has grown in popularity, it has faced restrictions in some countries. In Nepal too, the then Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ government had announced a ban on TikTok, saying it was introducing distortions into society.
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