(Reuters) – Chinese officials are holding preliminary talks about a potential option to sell TikTok's U.S. operations to billionaire Elon Musk, if the short-video app is unable to avoid an impending ban, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.
Beijing officials prefer that TikTok remain under the control of parent company Bytedance, the report said, citing sources.
The report said that TikTok's US operations could be sold either through a competitive process or an arrangement by the government, indicating that the future of the app is no longer solely under ByteDance's control.
The Chinese government owns a “golden stake” in ByteDance, which several members of Congress 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 not yet reached a consensus on how to proceed, according to Bloomberg News.
A TikTok spokesperson said in response to the report: “We cannot be expected to comment on pure fiction.”
It remains unclear how much ByteDance knew about the discussions, or about Musk and TikTok's involvement, and there is no information on whether ByteDance, TikTok, and Musk have been involved in any talks regarding a potential deal.
TikTok had previously said the government's stake “has no impact on ByteDance's global operations outside China, including TikTok.”
Elon Musk, X, the cyberspace company, and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last week, the Supreme Court appeared to be leaning toward upholding a law that would force the sale or ban of TikTok in the United States by January 19, due to national security concerns about China.
