Chinese Communist Party Considers Selling TikTok U.S. Business to Musk

According to sources, if ByteDance’s TikTok, the overseas version of Douyin, cannot avoid being taken down in the United States, the Chinese authorities are considering selling the short video application to the billionaire Elon Musk. Chinese officials are engaged in preliminary negotiations regarding this potential option.

The sources mentioned that Chinese officials would prefer TikTok to continue being controlled by its parent company, ByteDance.

It has been reported that TikTok’s US operations could be sold through a competitive process or arranged by the US government, signaling that the future of the application may no longer be solely in the hands of ByteDance.

Several US lawmakers have stated that the Chinese authorities hold “golden shares” in ByteDance, giving them the power to control TikTok.

One possible option is for Musk’s social media platform, X, to oversee TikTok’s US operations and operate jointly. However, there is no official consensus yet on how this would work.

In response to Bloomberg’s report, a spokesperson for TikTok stated, “We can’t comment on purely fictional things.”

Previously, TikTok argued that the Chinese government’s investment “does not affect ByteDance’s global business outside of China, including TikTok.”

Elon Musk, the X social media platform, and the US Department of Commerce have not yet commented on the matter.