China mulls potential sale of TikTok US to Musk, Bloomberg News reports

(Reuters) -Chinese officials are mulling a potential option that involves the sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to billionaire Elon Musk if the company fails to fend off a potential ban, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Chinese officials prefer that TikTok remain under the control of parent Bytedance, the report said, adding that the company is contesting the ban with an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Under one scenario, Musk’s social media platform X would take control of TikTok U.S. and run the business together, the report said, adding that the Chinese officials have yet to reach any firm consensus about how to proceed and their deliberations are still preliminary.

TikTok declined to comment, while Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment. X could not immediately be reached for a comment.

The Cyberspace Administration of China and China’s Ministry of Commerce, government agencies that could be involved in decisions about TikTok’s future, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Last week, the Supreme Court seemed inclined to uphold a law that would force a sale or ban of the popular short-video app TikTok in the United States by Jan. 19, with the justices focusing on the national security concerns about China that prompted the crackdown.