Musk says he has no plans to acquire TikTok's U.S. operations
Elon Musk, the world's richest person and a top advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump, said he has no interest in acquiring social media platform TikTok's operations in the United States, in comments released Saturday.
Elon Musk TikTok acquisition rumors were dismissed as Musk confirmed he has no plans to buy the platform. Amid the TikTok US ownership controversy, Musk stated he’s unfamiliar with TikTok and not interested. This comes as the ByteDance-owned app faces a U.S. ban threat.
"I've not put in a bid for TikTok and I don't have any plans for what I would do if I had TikTok," said Musk in comments made via videolink at a German forum in late January that were released on the weekend.
Soon after, Trump said he would be open to Musk -- the owner of social media platform X, Tesla and a slew of other companies -- buying the platform.
Musk, however, said he did not wish to acquire the company. "I don't use TikTok personally, so, you know, I'm not that familiar with it," he said. "I'm not chomping at the bit to acquire TikTok."
Musk bought social media giant Twitter, which he renamed X, for $44 billion in 2022, insisting he was doing so in order to safeguard "free speech."
Since his takeover, rights campaigners warn there has been a spike in hate speech and disinformation on the platform.
Musk was one of Trump's main financial backers in his presidential campaign, and is heading the U.S. president's budget-slashing initiatives.
Source: japantoday.com
