Elon Musk has stated that he is not interested in acquiring TikTok, rejecting speculation that arose after buying Twitter. The decision comes in a tense context, in which the US government has imposed bans on the Chinese app, amid concerns about the security of user data
Elon Musk Doesn't Plan to Buy TikTok
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and X companies, has said that he is not interested in acquiring the social media platform TikTok.
Last year, President Joe Biden's administration and the US Congress imposed an ultimatum on the Chinese company ByteDance, requiring it to sell the app, otherwise TikTok would be banned on US soil.
These measures were taken due to fears about the security of user data in the United States, which could have been monitored by Chinese intelligence services. Both Democrats and Republicans agreed with banning the app.
TikTok was shut down on January 19, 2025, but President Donald Trump, immediately after taking office in the White House, signed an executive order to postpone the ban.
Several entrepreneurs have shown interest in acquiring TikTok, including MrBeast, and the American press has speculated that Elon Musk could take this step, given that he bought Twitter in 2022. However, the richest man in the world recently stressed, according to Reuters, that he does not intend to buy TikTok.
"I'm not interested in buying TikTok. I didn't make any offer. I'm not eager to acquire TikTok, I don't acquire companies in general, I do it quite rarely. I usually build my companies from scratch," Musk said.
Since the ban was imposed, Apple and Google have not reinstated TikTok in their mobile app stores, but ByteDance said that users in the United States who own Android phones can still download the app from TikTok's official website, according to Forbes. Currently, the app is used by 170 million Americans.
How much buyers would pay for TikTok's operations in the United States
If ByteDance decides to sell, potential buyers may have to pay between $40 billion and $50 billion to take over TikTok's operations in the United States. This estimate comes from Angelo Zino, vice president of CFRA Research.
TikTok has about 115 million monthly active users in the US, being just below Instagram, which has 131 million users, according to Sensor Tower estimates. It puts the app ahead of other popular platforms, such as Snapchat (96 million users), Pinterest (74 million), and Reddit (32 million).
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