China is exploring a potential sale of TikTok’s US operations to Elon Musk for up to £41billion.
The social media platform, which has more than 2bn users globally, faces a ban in America on national security grounds.
Beijing is discussing a scenario where Musk’s social media firm X, formerly Twitter, would buy TikTok’s US arm from Chinese owner Byte Dance and combine it with his platform, Bloomberg News reported.
The report estimated the value of TikTok’s US operations at between £32billion and £41billion.
Although Musk is the world’s wealthiest person, it is unclear how he could buy TikTok, or if he would need to sell other assets to do so.
TikTok has said it ‘can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction’.
The US government passed a law last year that requires Byte Dance to either sell the platform or shut it down. It goes into effect Sunday – a day before Donald Trump takes office.
The US government alleges TikTok allows Beijing to collect data and spy on users and is a conduit to spread propaganda.
China and Byte Dance strongly deny the claims. TikTok’s appeal to the US Supreme Court began last week.
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