Elon Musk says he doesn’t want to buy TikTok’s U.S. business after all

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Elon Musk said he isn’t interested in buying TikTok, the popular social video app the U.S. has tried to ban over national security concerns with its Chinese owner Bytedance Ltd.

He made the comments — his first on the topic of him buying TikTok — at a conference in Germany hosted by Mathias Doepfner, the billionaire chief executive of German media conglomerate AxelSpringer, last month.

“I have not put in a bid for TikTok,” Musk said, joining the conference remotely via video, which was made public on Saturday. “I don’t have any plans for what would I do if I had TikTok.”

Musk said that he doesn’t use TikTok personally.

“I’m not chomping at the bit to acquire TikTok,” said Musk, who bought Twitter in 2022 before renaming the social media service X. “I usually build companies from scratch.”

Bloomberg News in January reported that Chinese officials were evaluating the possibility that would allow the world’s richest person and close ally of President Donald Trump to acquire the US operations of TikTok if the company fails to fend off a ban. Under one scenario, Musk’s X would take control of TikTok US and run the business together, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

On Trump’s first day in office, he signed an executive order that temporarily halted a forced sale or shutdown of TikTok, giving the company and its Chinese parent more time to reach a deal. The order came hours after Trump’s inauguration, which was attended by Bytedance CEO Shou Chew.

The order marked the latest turn in a years-long effort in Washington to ban the app over security concerns. Trump — who advocated in favor of a ban during his first term — changed his mind after the app helped him win over younger voters. “We won the young vote. I think I won it through TikTok, so I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok,” he said.

Musk, like Trump, could always change his mind.

Trump has said he would be open Musk, who donated more than $250 million to his presidential campaign, or Oracle Corp. Chairman Larry Ellison purchasing the app as a part of a joint venture with the U.S. government. This week, Trump also signed a separate executive order he said would direct officials to create a U.S. sovereign wealth fund that could be used to facilitate the sale of TikTok.

ByteDance has publicly refused to sell TikTok, though prospective buyers have said they hope the Supreme Court’s ruling in support of a national security law forcing the company to either sell or shutter the service in the U.S. could push it to reconsider. It also might not be entirely up to the company — the Chinese government would also need to sign off on any transaction.