Elon Musk confirmed he is not interested in buying TikTok. The billionaire made the statement at a late-January summit hosted by Germany’s Axel Springer SE. His comments were shared by The WELT Group on Saturday.
“I haven’t placed a bid for TikTok,” Musk said. This followed President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Musk could consider buying the app. Musk emphasized he has no plans to acquire TikTok and knows little about it.
“I don’t use the short-video app,” Musk admitted. “I’m not eager to buy TikTok. I rarely buy companies,” he said. Musk described his purchase of Twitter, now called X, as a unique case.
“I usually build companies from the ground up,” Musk explained, stressing his preference for starting businesses rather than buying them.
U.S. Ban and Talks Over TikTok’s Future
Trump had earlier signed an executive order to delay TikTok’s ban. The app faced a January 19 deadline to sell its U.S. assets, or face a shutdown. U.S. lawmakers were worried about national security, fearing that TikTok could share American user data with the Chinese government. ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, denied these claims.
Even though the ban was delayed, Apple and Google have not yet allowed TikTok back in their app stores. On Friday, TikTok introduced a new way for U.S. Android users to download the app from its website.
Trump said that talks about TikTok’s ownership were still ongoing. He expected a decision soon, noting TikTok’s 170 million American users. He also signed an order to set up a sovereign wealth fund within a year, hinting it could be used to acquire TikTok.
However, ByteDance denied it planned to sell TikTok, sticking to its position. This marked a change for Trump, who had previously wanted to ban the app. His new comments were more supportive, as he credited TikTok for helping him gain young voters during the 2024 election.
Both ByteDance and TikTok did not respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours.
