Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has made it clear that he has no intention of purchasing TikTok, the widely popular short-video app facing a potential ban in the United States due to national security concerns linked to its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.
Musk’s remarks, made in late January, were shared online on Saturday by The WELT Group, a division of German media giant Axel Springer SE. The Tesla CEO had joined a summit hosted by the company via video conferencing.
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Musk’s Take on a Potential TikTok Purchase
“I have not put in a bid for TikTok,” Musk said, addressing speculation that arose after former US President Donald Trump suggested he would be open to Musk acquiring the platform. Further to this, Musk clarified that he had no specific plans about TikTok, adding, “I don’t have any plans for what I would do if I had TikTok.” He revealed that he is not a personal user of the app and not even familiar with its format.
“I’m not champing at the bit to acquire TikTok, I do not acquire companies in general, it’s quite rare,” Musk said, noting that his high-profile acquisition of Twitter-now rebranded as X—was an exception to his usual business approach. “I usually build companies from scratch,” he added.
US Moves to Restrict TikTok Amid Security Concerns
The US government has threatened ByteDance to divest its TikTok US operations or face a nationwide ban. There are concerns that such an application can be compelled to share American user data with Chinese authorities—an allegation that TikTok has consistently denied.
He had tried to ban the app when he was in office, arguing that it posed a national security threat, but those efforts were unsuccessful. But now, he says he has “a warm spot in my heart for TikTok” and acknowledges how the app helped him connect with younger voters during the 2024 presidential race.
Tech Giants Hold Back on TikTok, ByteDance Denies Sale Plans
Despite the mounting pressure, Apple and Google have yet to reinstate TikTok in their app stores since a US law targeting the platform came into effect. As a response, TikTok has enabled Android users in the US to download and access the app through alternative package kits available on its website. Trump, on his part, has acknowledged that he is negotiating with other parties regarding TikTok’s future and will have a decision to make soon. The app now has about 170 million users in the US.
The US President recently signed an executive order requiring the creation of a sovereign wealth fund within a year. This move hints that the wealth fund could potentially be used for the acquisition of TikTok, but ByteDance has several times denied the plans to sell the platform. Neither ByteDance nor TikTok has made any immediate comments on the request for comment after regular business hours.
