Chinese officials are in preliminary talks about a potential option to sell TikTok’s operations in the United States to billionaire Elon Musk, should the short-video app be unable to avoid an impending ban, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.
Beijing officials prefer that TikTok remains under the control of parent Bytedance, the report said, citing sources.
TikTok’s US operations could either be sold through a competitive process or an arrangement by the government, the report said, suggesting that the future of the app is no longer solely in ByteDance’s control.
China’s government has a “golden share” in ByteDance, which several members of Congress have said gives the government power over TikTok.
Under one scenario, Musk’s social media platform X would take control of TikTok US and run the business together, the report said. Officials have yet to reach a consensus about how to proceed, according to Bloomberg News.
“We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction,” a TikTok spokesperson said, responding to the report.
It remains unclear how much ByteDance is aware of the discussions, or of Musk and TikTok’s involvement, and there is no information on whether ByteDance, TikTok and Musk have engaged in any talks regarding a possible deal.
TikTok has previously said that the government’s stake “has no bearing on ByteDance’s global operations outside of China, including TikTok”.
Elon Musk, X, and China’s Cyberspace and ministry of commerce did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last week, the supreme court seemed inclined to uphold a law that would force a sale or ban TikTok in the US by 19 January, over national security concerns about China.
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