After years of rejecting the idea of a sale of TikTok’s US assets to an American buyer in order to avert a ban, China and ByteDance may have found an owner they could live with: Elon Musk.

Musk acquired X (then Twitter) in October 2022 after a highly publicized back and forth, in which he gave up on the acquisition midway but ultimately closed the deal, paying $44 billion for the platform. X's user base has been on a decline since the acquisition, and advertising revenues have plummeted.

Chinese officials reportedly want ByteDance Ltd. to remain the owners of TikTok but is in discussion on how to work with the Trump Administration.

ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, is required to sell the app to a U.S.-based buyer or face a nationwide ban.

Chinese officials are considering Elon Musk as a potential buyer for TikTok's US operations if the app faces a ban, according to sources familiar with the matter. The discussions are part of Beijing's broader contingency planning as officials prepare for negotiations with the incoming Trump administration.

ELON Musk is said to be in talks with China over the possibility of buying TikTok to avoid an impending US ban on the platform. The app is facing a ban in the US from January 19 due

TikTok’s Chinese parent company has just over two months to find a buyer for the app’s US business or face a nationwide ban, after getting a time extension from President Donald Trump.  There is already competition to own it.