"I have not put in a bid for TikTok" — Elon Musk explains why he won’t buy the Chinese social media platform

Elon Musk's remarks on TikTok at a January 2025 summit by Axel Springer SE, a German media company, were recently released by The WELT Group on February 8, 2025. Commenting on whether he would put in a bid for the social media app following its temporary ban in the U.S, the Tesla CEO said:

"I have not put in a bid for TikTok. I don't have any plans for what I would do if I had TikTok.”

Musk revealed that he isn't familiar with TikTok's format and doesn't use it himself, adding that he wasn't "chomping at the bit" to acquire the social media app. He added that he doesn't acquire companies in general and that it is rare for him to do so because he usually builds "companies from scratch."

Elon Musk's comment on TikTok followed President Donald Trump's signing of an executive order seeking to delay enforcing a ban on the app, which was scheduled to be shut down on January 19, 2025. Chinese internet company ByteDance was given a January deadline to sell TikTok's assets or face a ban in the U.S. due to concerns about the app being a national security risk.

The risk in question was the possibility of China compelling TikTok to share data on its users in the U.S. However, the social media app has denied that it would participate in such an exchange.

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"TikTok should not be banned in the USA": Elon Musk has opposed the social media app's possible shutdown in the past

Elon Musk was against TikTok's possible shutdown (Image via Getty)

Besides denying his bid to buy TikTok during the WELT Economic Summit in January 2025, Elon Musk compared acquiring the social media app to purchasing X. He said buying X was crucial to "preserve freedom of speech," adding he wasn't sure if the same logic applied to TikTok. Musk said that an economic angle would be the only reason behind a potential acquisition of the social media app.

The WELT Economic Summit isn't the first instance of Elon Musk commenting on TikTok's ban in the U.S. On January 19, 2025, Musk took to X to repost one of his tweets from April 2024, wherein he put forth his stance on the same situation. In his recent tweet, the SpaceX CEO mentioned:

"I have been against a TikTok ban for a long time, because it goes against freedom of speech. That said, the current situation where TikTok is allowed to operate in America, but 𝕏 is not allowed to operate in China is unbalanced. Something needs to change."

Additionally, in the tweet he reposted from April 2024, the Tesla CEO stated:

"In my opinion, TikTok should not be banned in the USA, even though such a ban may benefit the 𝕏 platform. Doing so would be contrary to freedom of speech and expression. It is not what America stands for."

According to a report by Gizmodo dated March 2024, Musk commented on a possible TikTok ban in the U.S. via a tweet on March 12, 2024. At the time, the social media app wasn't given a deadline to sell its shares, and the U.S. House of Representatives was scheduled to vote on the matter.

Elon Musk shared a tweet by Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie, who called the proposed TikTok ban a "trojan horse," alleging that the new law would be used to restrain America's freedom of speech. The Tesla CEO tweeted:

"This law is not just about TikTok, it is about censorship and government control! If it were just about TikTok, it would only cite “foreign control” as the issue, but it does not."

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According to a report by Reuters dated January 22, 2025, President Donald Trump expressed that he was open to Elon Musk buying the social media app. However, Musk's recent statement at the summit by Axel Springer SE dismissed rumors that he had bought the social media app.