China Weighs TikTok US Sale To Elon Musk As Ban Looms: Reports

Chinese authorities are reportedly considering sale of TikTok's U.S. operations to billionaire Elon Musk as the app faces an impending ban.

The U.S. Supreme Court has issued an ultimatum to TikTok, ordering the social media company to halt its US operations by Jan. 19. This deadline falls a day before President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.

Through a "golden share" structure, the Chinese government owns a sizable portion of ByteDance, the parent firm of TikTok. U.S. politicians are concerned about this because they think it gives the Chinese government control over TikTok's business practices, Reuters reported citing Bloomberg

However, Beijing officials are adamant that TikTok should remain under the ownership of its parent company, ByteDance. To this end, they have appealed to the US Supreme Court to overturn the ban, and the court heard their final plea on Tuesday.

TikTok's potential sale to Musk has deep political undertones. The authorities are courting Musk for the deal due to his friendship with Trump, per The Straits Times.

Furthermore, Musk shelling out a whopping $250 million to support Trump's re-election campaign, which made him the largest political donor in U.S. history, has catapulted him to a prominent role in improving government efficiency in Trump's administration.

It is speculated that if the deal is done, it will benefit both parties, especially Musk, who will run X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok US simultaneously, potentially generating substantial profits.

The Straits Times report said that the discussions, however, are in their early stages and no consensus has been reached yet. It's also unclear to how much information ByteDance, TikTok's parent company has managed to acquire about the potential deal. It's also uncertain if Elon Musk or TikTok were involved in the talks.

"In my opinion, TikTok should not be banned in the USA, even though such a ban may benefit the X platform," he wrote on X. "Doing so would be contrary to freedom of speech and expression. It is not what America stands for."

Tough negotiations are underway for the Chinese officials with the Trump administration on tariffs, export controls, and other issues. They are, however, seeing the TikTok negotiations as a ground for reconciliation.

Given Beijing's export laws prohibit Chinese companies from exporting sensitive software algorithms, the prospective sale of TikTok's algorithm will require a Chinese government clearance.

TikTok's US operations could be valued at around US$40 billion to US$50 billion, the Straits Times reported, citing Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Mandeep Singh and Damian Reimertz's estimate in 2024.

ByteDance didn't officially confirm anything, however. The Straits Times reached out to TikTok authorities for comments, but no response was received.

Meanwhile, the news about TikTok's sale to Elon Musk has sparked intense debate on social media. Many social media users were relieved to know that TikTok would possibly thwart an impending ban, while many others frowned upon it coming under the ownership of Musk, who also owns X.

American YouTuber Mr.Beast jokingly offered to buy TikTok should Elon Musk not be interested. "Okay fine, I'll buy Tik Tok so it doesn't get banned," he said in a tweet.