American billionaire Elon Musk has stated that he is not interested in acquiring TikTok, a popular social media platform.
In a video conference that was made public on Saturday, February 8th, Musk explicitly mentioned, “I have not made any acquisition offer for TikTok.”
He further added, “I do not have any plans for what I would do with TikTok if I had it.”
This disclosure came during a meeting in January where Musk remotely attended a session hosted by Matthias Doepfner, the CEO of the German media group Axel Springer. It marked his first response to the topic of acquiring TikTok.
Musk emphasized that he personally does not use TikTok, stating, “I am not in a rush to acquire TikTok. I typically build companies from scratch.”
In 2022, Musk acquired Twitter and rebranded it as X.
According to Bloomberg, sources have indicated that Chinese officials are assessing the likelihood of allowing Musk to acquire TikTok’s American business if a ban were to be imposed on the platform, presenting a scenario from the Chinese perspective.
Musk, a close ally of former President Trump, has drawn attention due to Trump’s recent executive order directing officials to explore the creation of a sovereign wealth fund in the U.S., which could potentially be used for acquiring TikTok. Prior to this, several American companies were reportedly in discussions regarding the acquisition of TikTok.
Recent reports suggest that the President has designated Vice President JD Vance and the National Security Council to oversee potential sale transactions of TikTok’s American business.
The acquisition of TikTok involves complex issues related to technology, diplomacy, and national security.
ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, has publicly rejected the idea of selling the platform. However, the final decision may not solely lie with the company as any transaction would require approval from the Chinese government.
On January 19th, a law passed by the U.S. Congress that mandated the separation of TikTok on national security grounds went into effect, resulting in the temporary removal of the app from Apple and Google’s app stores.
Following Trump’s inauguration, an executive order was signed on January 20th, postponing the implementation of the law by 75 days until April. Nevertheless, due to legal concerns, TikTok remains unavailable for download on Apple’s App Store and Google’s Google Play Store.
Members of Congress have indicated that the only viable option for TikTok is a qualified separation, which demands a complete severance of ties with ByteDance or any other Chinese entity, including discontinuing the use of its powerful content recommendation algorithm and ensuring that no user data falls under Chinese control.
As the question of who will eventually own TikTok remains unanswered, and with the potential enforcement of the TikTok ban in April approaching, the public eagerly awaits further developments.