As the rumor mill goes into overdrive, ByteDance has set the record straight about Elon Musk possibly buying TikTok.
According to Bloomberg, Chinese officials were weighing up the option of selling TikTok to Musk. This would make the billionaire the owner of not one, but two of the largest social media platforms in the world. It would also undoubtedly bolster his already enormous influence in the technology sphere.
While Bejing officials are said to “strongly prefer” TikTok remains under ByteDance’s ownership, Bloomberg’s report is suggesting the Chinese government looking for a plan B in the event the app ends up banned on Jan. 19.
One scenario floated by the officials is Musk’s X taking control of TikTok and running both of them together. Bloomberg claims two things remain unclear. The first is how much TikTok and ByteDance know about these purported discussions. The second is whether the business is having any discussions with Musk on its own.
ByteDance Responds to Elon Musk TikTok Claims
However, a ByteDance representative denied this report outright, telling Bloomberg, “We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction.”
By some miracle, Musk has managed to not be involved much in the TikTok ban debate so far. That being said, he did say in an X post in April that a ban would be “contrary to freedom of speech and expression.”
To that end, Musk’s BFF, Donald Trump has pledged to “save TikTok” once in office. So, at the very least, we have a feeling that Musk is going to be a lot more involved moving forward.
