Will He, Won’t He? Elon Musk Denies Rumors He’s Buying TikTok

Elon Musk is no stranger when it comes to making controversial statements and making bold business moves. Stories of how he acquired Twitter (now known as X) have become the stuff of Silicon Valley legend. The internet went wild when rumors spread that Elon Musk would buy TikTok. But Musk quickly shut it down.

Quashing rumors

At a conference organized by a unit of Axel Springer, the German media business, Musk basically quashed the rumors. According to Elon Musk, he basically denied that the rumors that he had put in a bid for TikTok. The billionaire was quoted as saying, “I have not put in a bid for TikTok.” He also added, “I’m not chomping at the bit to acquire TikTok, I do not acquire companies in general, it’s quite rare.”

Musk stated that his reasons for acquiring “things” aren’t just for economic reasons either. “I don’t acquire things just for economic reasons. It’s not clear to me what the purpose of acquiring TikTok would be apart from economic.”

So where did these rumors come from?

Analyst reports suggested that TikTok would fit well with Musk and X, which likely contributed to the rumors. The rumors gained traction when US President Donald Trump commented saying that he was open to the idea of Musk buying TikTok. However, Musk’s recent statements suggest that he would not be buying the company. This corroborates an earlier report where TikTok called the potential sale to X “pure fiction”.

If not Musk, then who?

Musk stands out as one of the few people in the world capable of making such a move. Analysts estimate that if ByteDance were to sell its US operations, they would likely demand $40-50 billion. There aren’t that many people in the world with that kind of money. In addition to Musk, Trump had floated other names and companies as potential candidates. This included Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, SoftBank CEO Masa Son, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

However, other players have emerged as possible contenders. This includes Microsoft. Microsoft’s name was actually put forward back in 2020. The company was actually in talks to buy TikTok but negotiations fell apart. More recently, a group of investors backed by YouTuber MrBeast have put together more than $20 billion to place a bid of their own.

Trump also recently signed an executive order to create a sovereign wealth fund. This fund has the potential to be used to buy TikTok, although that remains to be seen.