Chinese authorities are considering the idea https://www.reuters.com/technology/china-mulls-potential-sale-tiktok-us-musk-bloomberg-news-reports-2025-01-14/ of letting Elon take over TikTok’s American activities if the famous short video platform cannot escape an upcoming ban. Although Beijing wants ByteDance Ltd. keeps TikTok under its umbrella, Chinese authorities are still considering relief strategies while conducting broader negotiations with the new Trump administration.
Those talks took on urgency when Supreme Court justices hinted they might support legislation requiring ByteDance to sell or shut down TikTok’s U.S. operations by Jan. 19. One plan being considered is to integrate TikTok US with Musk’s X platform, leveraging TikTok’s massive audience of more than 170 million US users to bolster X’s advertising power.
Money is a major sticking point, with Bloomberg Intelligence analysts estimating TikTok’s U.S. operations at a whopping $40 billion to $50 billion. No one knows how to structure the deal, find the financing and get the green light from regulators, especially considering Musk’s previous commitments to his proposed $44 billion business. of dollars of dollars of Twitter.
For now, ByteDance is focused on its legal battles, arguing, through TikTok’s legal team, that forcing a sale goes against the First Amendment. On the other hand, President-elect Trump has hinted that he may push back the January 19 ban to give both sides more room to reach a deal, emphasizing his desire to “save” the platform.
Additionally, the Chinese government holds a “golden share” in a subsidiary of ByteDance, giving it considerable influence over key business decisions, including those regarding export rules related to TikTok’s algorithm. This configuration allows Beijing to maintain its influence over any possible sale, including that of TikTok’s characteristic recommendation technology.
Musk has consistently opposed a ban on TikTok, tweeting in April that shutting down the app would go against fundamental ideals such as free speech and expression and that it simply isn’t ” not what America stands for” Representatives of Musk, ByteDance, TikTok and relevant Chinese government agencies have so far remained tight-lipped on the situation.
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