Reports about Chinese officials eyeing Musk as the buyer of TikTok’s U.S. operations are “not a total shock” given Musk’s relationship with Trump, says Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.

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.

KEY TAKEAWAYS According to reports, Chinese officials are considering selling TikTok's U.S. operations to Elon Musk if the social media firm ultimately gets banned here.Bloomberg reported that China is considering a scenario in which Musk's X platform would control TikTok US,