Despite rumors about ByteDance's possible acquisition of TikTok, the world's richest billionaire Elon Musk has just said he is not interested in the Chinese app.
Billionaire Elon Musk said he has no interest in buying TikTok, the popular short-video app that the U.S. is trying to ban over national security concerns. Musk’s comments were reported over the weekend by The WELT Group, a unit of German media company Axel Springer SE.
Billionaire Elon Musk is not interested in the possibility of acquiring TikTok.
"I have not made an offer to buy TikTok," the Tesla boss said a week after US President Donald Trump said he was willing to let Mr. Musk buy the app owned by ByteDance if the billionaire wanted.
"I don't have any plans for what I would do if I owned TikTok," the X social network boss revealed, adding that he doesn't use the short video app and is not familiar with its format.
The world's richest man said he was not interested in acquiring TikTok, nor was he interested in acquiring companies in general. His multibillion-dollar acquisition of social media platform Twitter, which he later renamed X, was rare. "I usually build companies from scratch," Musk explained.
President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order to delay the ban on the popular short-video app, which was scheduled to shut down on January 19.
ByteDance has been given 75 days by Trump to sell TikTok’s US assets or face a ban after lawmakers raised concerns that the app posed a national security risk. Lawmakers have alleged that China could force the company to share US user data. TikTok has denied that it has or will share US user data.
US President Donald Trump has made no secret of his support for Mr Musk if he wants to buy ByteDance's social media platform.
As of January 19, Apple and Google had not restored TikTok to their app stores, after the law took effect a day before Trump returned to the White House. TikTok announced over the weekend that it would allow Android users in the US to download and connect to the app through bundles on its website, in an effort to circumvent restrictions on the popular platform in the country.
Mr. Trump has said he is in talks with several people about buying TikTok and will likely make a decision on the app’s future in February 2025. ByteDance’s platform has about 170 million users in the United States.
Last week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to create a sovereign wealth fund this year, saying it could potentially buy TikTok.
Mr Trump's rescue of TikTok represents a reversal from his first term when he unsuccessfully sought to ban the app over concerns that ByteDance shared Americans' personal information with the Chinese government.
Mr. Trump recently confided that he "has a warm place in his heart for TikTok," noting that the app helped him win the support of young voters in the presidential election in early November 2024.
Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/ty-phu-elon-musk-khong-man-ma-mua-lai-tiktok-192250209231221353.htm
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