Topline
Billionaire and government efficiency czar Elon Musk said at a virtual summit last week, which was published online Saturday, that he’s not interested in buying TikTok, despite earlier reports suggesting China was interested in selling the app to the Tesla executive.
Elon Musk said he has no plans to purchase TikTok. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
Key Facts
Musk spoke at the WELT Economic Summit on Jan. 28, a German conference held by the media conglomerate AxelSpringer, stating he has not placed a bid to buy the app and is “not chomping at the bit to acquire TikTok.”
“I don’t have any plans for what would I do if I had TikTok,” Musk said, suggesting he could evaluate how harmful or productive the app’s algorithms are.
Musk compared acquiring TikTok to his purchase of Twitter, now called X, stating he felt the Twitter purchase was important because he wanted to “preserve freedom of speech,” but he said he’s not sure if that same logic applies to TikTok because the only reasons he sees for a potential acquisition would be economic.
Did China Want Musk To Buy Tiktok?
Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal reported in January Chinese officials had discussed the possibility of selling TikTok to Musk to avoid a ban in the United States. China had discussed a potential sale to Musk as a way to work with the then-incoming Trump administration, and one idea floated included Musk’s X taking ownership of TikTok, Bloomberg reported. TikTok, however, denied these reports, with a spokesperson telling multiple outlets the idea of a Musk sale is “pure fiction.”
What’s Going On With Tiktok—and When Could It Be Banned?
The United States is still seeking to broker a deal with China that lets the app continue to be used in the United States ahead of the ban’s extension deadline in April. After TikTok briefly went dark for more than 12 hours in January, the app returned with a message thanking Trump for his efforts—before he took office—because he had promised to extend the ban deadline. Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office extending the deadline for ByteDance to divest from the app by 75 days. Trump has since suggested the U.S. and China could jointly own TikTok, though he has also advocated for a “bidding war.” Several parties have expressed interest in purchasing TikTok, including “Shark Tank” judge and investor Kevin O’Leary, who said he put $20 billion “on the table” alongside billionaire and Project Liberty nonprofit founder Frank McCourt. YouTube’s most-followed star MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, has also expressed interest in buying TikTok as part of a group of investors led by Jesse Tinsley, founder and CEO of Employer.com. Trump has also claimed Microsoft is in talks to purchase the app.
Further Reading
Here’s How Much Elon Musk Could Buy TikTok For—As China Reportedly Eyes Deal (Forbes)
This article was originally published by a www.forbes.com . Read the Original article here. .