Chinese government officials have reportedly discussed the possibility of ByteDance selling TikTok’s US operations to Elon Musk, should the US Supreme Court uphold the law banning the app on January 19.
While Chinese authorities have expressed a strong preference for TikTok to remain under ByteDance’s ownership, they are said to have considered a sale to Musk as part of a broader strategy to engage with the incoming Donald Trump administration.
If this plan were to proceed, Musk's X would acquire TikTok US, bringing its 170 million American users and significant advertising revenue under his control. However, a TikTok spokesperson reportedly dismissed the report as 'pure fiction.' It remains unclear how much ByteDance and TikTok are aware of China’s potential consideration of a sale to Musk, which could suggest deeper government influence over the platform.