Is China considering Elon Musk as a buyer of TikTok operations in the United States?

Chinese authorities are evaluating the possibility of the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, buying TikTok’s operations in the United States if the Supreme Court of that country finally orders the closure of the social network, Bloomberg reports this Tuesday.

That medium, which cites anonymous sources, points out that, although Beijing clearly prefers that TikTok remain owned by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, the fact that options other than a court battle are being considered would demonstrate that the future of the network Social is no longer solely in the hands of technology.

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Musk, who has become one of the closest allies of President-elect Donald Trump, bought the social network Twitter – now worldwide production base and an important market.

The businessman himself wrote in April of last year: “In my opinion, TikTok should not be banned in the United States. (…) Doing so would go against freedom of expression, and that is not what the United States defends.” TikTok’s argument before the Supreme Court is precisely that its ban would violate the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which prohibits Congress from enacting laws that limit freedom of expression.

If it does not separate from ByteDance, TikTok will go dark in the United States on January 19, one day before Trump returns to the presidency. In his first term (2017-2021), the Republican tried to ban the social network, but on this occasion he asked the Supreme Court to paralyze the entry into force of the law until he was in the presidency after promising during the campaign that he would “save TikTok” .

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Chinese authorities anticipate tough negotiations with the Trump Administration over tariffs or export controls, but see TikTok as a possible means of “reconciliation” with Washington, according to sources cited by Bloomberg.

Beijing has a ‘golden share’ in ByteDance that gives it the right to veto any decision, gaining influence over the company’s strategy and operations. TikTok defends that this situation only affects ByteDance in China but not its businesses abroad.

In any case, given that Beijing’s export control regulations prohibit Chinese companies from selling the algorithms of their software, a possible sale of TikTok would have to have the explicit approval of the Chinese government, giving it an even more prominent voice. in the situation.

AFP

On the other hand, TikTok’s US operations are valued at between $40 billion and $50 billion, a significant sum even for Musk, who tried to back out of acquiring Twitter for $44 billion and finally complied. with the agreement in the face of the threat of a long legal process.

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And separating TikTok from ByteDance would be, in the words of the social network’s own lawyers, an “extraordinarily difficult” process.

At the moment, Bloomberg points out, the Musk option is only one of the possible options being considered, and it is unknown if the businessman himself or if TikTok are aware of these deliberations or have participated in them.