Billionaire Elon Musk stated that he has no interest in purchasing TikTok, the widely popular short-video app that U.S. officials have been pushing to ban due to national security concerns tied to its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.
Musk’s remarks, originally made in late January, were released online Saturday by The WELT Group, a division of German media company Axel Springer SE, which hosted a summit where the Tesla CEO participated via video.
“I have not put in a bid for TikTok,” Musk said, responding a week after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested he would support Musk acquiring the ByteDance-owned platform if he chose to do so.
“I don’t have any plans for what I would do if I had TikTok,” Musk added, explaining that he does not personally use the app and is unfamiliar with its format.
“I’m not eager to acquire TikTok. I generally do not acquire companies—it’s quite rare,” Musk said, noting that his high-profile purchase of social media platform Twitter, now known as X, was an exception.
“I usually build companies from scratch,” he added.
The Republican president recently signed an executive order delaying the enforcement of a ban on TikTok, which had been scheduled to take effect on January 19.
ByteDance was given until January to sell its U.S. operations or face a nationwide ban, with lawmakers expressing concerns that the app could pose security risks by potentially allowing the Chinese government access to American user data. TikTok has repeatedly denied these allegations, stating it has never shared and would never share U.S. user data.
Since a new U.S. law took effect, Apple and Google have yet to reinstate TikTok in their app stores. On Friday, TikTok announced that U.S. Android users could now download and access the app through package kits available on its website, an attempt to bypass restrictions in the country.
Trump revealed that he has been in discussions with multiple parties about a potential sale of TikTok and expects to make a decision on the platform’s future this month. TikTok currently has approximately 170 million users in the U.S.
Earlier this week, the president also signed an executive order to establish a sovereign wealth fund within the year, suggesting that it could potentially be used to purchase TikTok.
ByteDance, however, has repeatedly denied any plans to sell the app.
Trump’s recent stance on TikTok marks a shift from his first term, during which he attempted—unsuccessfully—to ban the app over concerns that Americans’ personal data was being shared with the Chinese government.
More recently, Trump has expressed a newfound appreciation for TikTok, stating that he has “a warm spot in my heart for TikTok” and crediting the app with helping him gain support among young voters during the 2024 presidential election.
ByteDance and TikTok have not yet responded to requests for comment outside of regular business hours.
