TikTok, future new property of Elon Musk? According to information from the American agency BloombergChinese authorities are seriously evaluating the option that involves Elon Musk’s acquisition of TikTok’s US operations. And for good reason: the popular platform, particularly among young people, could be banned in the United States by the end of the week.
Indeed, the United States adopted a law last year which obliges the Chinese entertainment giant ByteDance, owner of TikTok, to sell the platform by January 19, 2025, under penalty of a total ban on the application. in the country, where it has 170 million users.
“Emergency plan”
Chinese authorities have already made it known that they strongly prefer that TikTok remain the property of its parent company ByteDance, reports Bloomberg. The company challenged the impending ban by appealing the decision to the United States Supreme Court. It was last Friday, January 10, that the American Supreme Court heard the arguments of both parties. Washington says it wants to prevent the risks of espionage and manipulation by Beijing, while the social network and associations accuse the law of stifling freedom of expression. However, after Friday’s debates, a clear majority of the judges of the high institution showed themselves willing to authorize the ban on the social network.
Donald Trump, who is due to take office in less than a week, on January 20, has also sought to delay the ban on TikTok in order to be able to work on negotiations. As reported by American media, including The New York Timeshe declared that he wanted to “save” the application, speculating that he could take last-minute measures to circumvent the ban. The Republican, however, has not always been in favor of the application: during his first mandate, he denounced an attack on national security, accusing it of espionage.
Rather than shutting down completely, China would prefer to sell its American shares. Chinese authorities, which have a significant stake in the company, had already begun debating contingency plans for TikTok as part of an in-depth discussion on how to work with Donald Trump’s administrationone of which involves Elon Musk, a source close to the matter reported to the Bloomberg agency.
“Pure fiction”
Concretely, according to a scenario discussed by the Chinese government, and consulted by Bloomberg, Elon Musk’s X platform (ex-Twitter) would take control of TikTok USA and manage the companies together. The American billionaire founder of Tesla and SpaceX created a surprise by displaying his desire to buy Twitter in early 2022. With more than 170 million users in the United States, TikTok could attract advertisers on behalf of X, if Elon Musk really redeemed her. Additionally, he is also the founder of a separate artificial intelligence company, named xAI, which could also benefit from the massive amounts of data generated by TikTok.
So far, Elon Musk has not spoken on the subject. In April, he said he thought TikTok should remain available in the United States. “In my opinion, TikTok should not be banned in the United States, even if such a ban could benefit platform what America stands for.”
For its part, TikTok on Tuesday described as “pure fiction” the information according to which Chinese authorities would evaluate the possibility of an acquisition by Elon Musk of its American activities if ever the popular platform was banned in the United States by the end of the week. “We cannot be expected to comment on pure fiction,” a TikTok spokesperson told AFP on Tuesday. TikTok’s U.S. operations could be valued at around $40 billion to $50 billion, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst estimates last year. A considerable sum even for the richest man in the world. In 2022, his takeover of Twitter cost him nearly $44 billion, which he continues to repay via large loans.