President Donald Trump expressed openness to Tesla Inc. TSLA CEO Elon Musk or Oracle Corp. ORCL Chairman Larry Ellison acquiring TikTok, marking a significant shift in the platform’s uncertain future amid regulatory challenges.
What Happened: Speaking at a press briefing Tuesday, Trump suggested ByteDance could find “the ultimate partner” in either tech executive while proposing an unusual arrangement in which half of TikTok’s ownership would be transferred to the U.S. government in exchange for operating permits.
"I would be if [Musk] he wanted to buy it, yes," Trump said. "I'd like Larry to buy it, too."
The comments follow Trump’s Monday executive order suspending TikTok’s ban for 75 days, temporarily halting restrictions that took effect after the Supreme Court upheld national security legislation targeting the platform. The law requires ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. operations to continue operating in the country.
Trump’s stance on TikTok has evolved considerably since 2020, when he attempted to ban the app through executive action. The shift reportedly came after a February meeting with Jeff Yass, a prominent Republican donor and ByteDance investor who also holds stakes in Trump’s Truth Social platform.
Market analysts value TikTok’s U.S. operations at approximately $50 billion, though Trump claimed the business could be worth up to $1 trillion with proper operating permits.
Why It Matters: The situation has attracted interest from major tech players. Meta Platforms Inc. META launched its video creation app “Edits” amid TikTok’s uncertainty, while Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos‘ Perplexity reportedly made a $50 billion merger offer.
Chinese officials have shown potential flexibility regarding a sale. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning stated that companies should decide on business operations and acquisitions based on market principles.
The platform’s fate remains uncertain as Apple Inc. AAPL and Alphabet Inc.’s Google GOOGL GOOG continue withholding TikTok from their app stores, citing U.S. legal requirements, despite service restoration for existing users.
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