Elon Musk Eyes TikTok U.S. Operations Amid Potential $50 Billion Deal

NEW YORK, N.Y. — Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, could face a price tag of $40 billion to $50 billion to acquire the U.S. operations of TikTok, according to a leading analyst, as China considers allowing a sale to avoid a U.S. ban on the popular app.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a Tuesday note to clients, suggested that TikTok parent ByteDance would likely seek a sum in the range of Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in 2022. This figure far exceeds the $20 billion bid made last week by the U.S.-led consortium Project Liberty, which includes billionaire Frank McCourt, former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Reports of Chinese officials discussing a potential sale to Musk are “not a total shock,” Ives noted, citing Musk’s close ties with President-elect Donald Trump. Musk’s acquisition of TikTok’s U.S. operations would be a “golden asset pickup” for his social media company X, formerly known as Twitter, Ives added.

A TikTok spokesperson dismissed the idea of a sale to Musk as “pure fiction” in a statement to Forbes. Musk has yet to comment on the reports, which do not indicate whether he has expressed interest in such a deal. TikTok faces a U.S. ban unless ByteDance divests its American operations by Sunday, though the Supreme Court is expected to rule on an appeal soon, and Trump could extend the deadline by 90 days after his Monday inauguration.

About a third of Americans use TikTok, according to a June Pew Research study, surpassing the 21% who use X. Concerns over TikTok’s China-based ownership and potential data-sharing with the Chinese government have driven U.S. lawmakers to push for a ban unless ByteDance sells the platform.

Musk’s electric vehicle company Tesla, his largest business, generates significant revenue in China, with $5.7 billion of its $25.2 billion in revenue last quarter coming from the country. Ives highlighted Musk’s “strong relationship” with the Chinese government as a potential advantage in negotiations. Musk’s $421 billion net worth, largely tied to his stakes in Tesla and SpaceX, makes him the world’s richest person by a wide margin.

Other American billionaires, including Jeff Yass of Susquehanna International Group, which owns a 15% stake in ByteDance, are also closely involved in the high-stakes negotiations over TikTok’s future.