Bytedance Ltd. is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court to challenge the impending ban on its hit app TikTok in the United States. According to Bloomberg's sources, some officials have begun to imagine the post-Biden era with the new Trump administration, which could help find solutions. But these would involve a certain Elon Musk, already the owner of X, whose purchase of shares in TikTok US could save the application from its outright ban.
TikTok quickly tried to dispel the rumor by telling to Variety: "we can't be expected to comment on pure fiction."
A potential large-scale agreement with one of Donald Trump's closest allies could interest the Chinese government, which should have a say in the possible sale of TikTok, sources told the economic news agency. According to this absurd scenario, Elon Musk would take over TikTok US through X, which would take control of it. A way, in particular for X, to attract more advertisers, who have left since the arrival of the businessman at its head. xAI, Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, could also benefit from the enormous amount of data generated by TikTok.
The Wall Street Journal indicated that the Chinese government had not discussed the subject with ByteDance executives regarding this emergency plan. It should be noted, however, that Beijing holds a "golden" share in a ByteDance subsidiary, giving it influence over the company's strategy and operations.
Elon Musk, an emergency plan before the January 19 ultimatum?
Elon Musk has not commented on the subject, but declared on X last April that he thought that "TikTok should not be banned in the United States, even if such a ban could benefit the X platform". He still proclaimed himself to be on the side of the free speech camp, and declared: "To do so would be contrary to freedom of speech and expression. That is not what America stands for." On Donald Trump's side, also a supporter of total freedom of expression, TikTok remains a Chinese application to this day, and its ban could therefore only be ruled out by a complete change of ownership. A question of "national security", also mentioned by the Joe Biden administration, which accuses the application of being a "Trojan horse of the Chinese Communist Party".
TikTok is expected to be blocked in the country on January 19, and its appeal to the American Supreme Court therefore constitutes an ultimatum. Donald Trump recently ordered the Supreme Court to suspend the entry into force of the April 2024 law that enacted the ban on TikTok on January 19 if it had not been sold to another owner. The next president obviously wanted to be able to change things, and give more time to "negotiate a solution with TikTok".
China's interest in negotiating TikTok with Donald Trump
According to Bloomberg, the discussions in Beijing would demonstrate China's interest in continuing negotiations under the Trump administration. The country fears that relations will become complicated and that customs tariffs will increase much more with the new president. The sale of TikTok would therefore be a way to tip the balance. TikTok’s U.S. business could be worth $40 billion to $50 billion, according to estimates by Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Mandeep Singh and Damian Reimertz.
Another person familiar with the matter said Musk has a good reputation in China, particularly among ByteDance employees. The world’s richest man is seen as a successful entrepreneur with experience dealing with the Chinese government through Tesla and its Shanghai factory.
In the past, Microsoft, Oracle, and also investor groups such as Frank McCourt and Kevin O’Leary via Project Liberty have shown interest in acquiring TikTok. TikTok’s lawyers have pointed out that in the event of a split, separating the American and Chinese parts of the TikTok product would be “extremely difficult.” Banning the app therefore seems to be the most likely option at this time, especially since the majority of Supreme Court justices have ruled that security concerns outweigh those surrounding freedom of expression.
Source: Bloomberg
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