Elon Musk on buying TikTok: ‘Not interested', acquiring Twitter was “difficult” and “quite painful”

Elon Musk

At a recent event, Elon Musk has firmly denied any intentions of acquiring the popular short-video platform, TikTok. Speculation about Musk's potential interest in the app arose as questions remain over the app’s future in the United States due to national security concerns surrounding its Chinese ownership.

Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, clarified his stance, stating, "I have not actually put in a bid for TikTok and I don't have any plans for what would I do if I had TikTok," Musk said at an event in Germany, via video conferencing.

He further emphasised his preference for building companies from the ground up, citing his acquisition of Twitter (now X) as an exception to his usual business practices.

"I don't acquire companies in general," Musk explained, highlighting the rarity of such moves in his career. He acknowledged the unique circumstances surrounding his purchase of Twitter and called it “difficult” and “quite painful.”

He also said that economic reasons aren’t the only thing which makes him acquire companies. “I don't know if the same logic applies to TikTok," he said. The X owner also said that he doesn’t acquire things just for economic reasons. “So it's not clear to me what the purpose of acquiring TikTok would be apart from economics,” he added.

Musk's comments come as TikTok faces scrutiny from US lawmakers and regulators over concerns about potential data sharing with the Chinese government. The app's parent company, ByteDance, has been given a deadline to address these concerns or face a potential ban in the US.

Despite the uncertainty surrounding TikTok's future, there have been rumours about Oracle and Microsoft putting together a deal to buy the app. Neither company has made any official comment on it.