ET
TikTok is reaching out for insight about the U.S. from Elon Musk, who is both owner of a rival social-media platform and one of President-elect Trump’s closest confidants.
Shou Chew, chief executive of the popular video app, initiated messages with the billionaire in recent weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. Chew and executives at TikTok’s parent company, Chinese tech giant ByteDance, view Musk as a potentially helpful conduit to the incoming administration at a time when TikTok faces the prospect of a looming ban in the U.S. over national security concerns.
Chew, who has known Musk for several years, asked the Tesla TSLA 3.80%increase; green up pointing triangle CEO, who also owns the social-media platform X, his opinions on topics ranging from the incoming administration to potential tech policy, some of the people said.
The pair haven’t discussed explicit options for ways to keep TikTok operating in the U.S., they said. Chew has kept senior ByteDance executives apprised of the interactions, and ByteDance executives have felt cautiously optimistic there could be a path forward, the people said.
Musk’s unprecedented access to the president-elect has caused many business leaders to seek out the billionaire’s advice. Musk has been staying at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club in Palm Beach, since the election, and has been central to conversations around the administration’s transition, according to people familiar with the matter.
In meetings, Musk has weighed in on cabinet positions and joined Trump on calls with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and Alphabet GOOGL -1.71%decrease; red down pointing triangle CEO Sundar Pichai. That sort of proximity to the incoming administration has given technology CEOs with an existing relationship with Musk the ability to backchannel with one of the president-elect’s closest advisers.
As president, Trump signed an executive order to ban TikTok in 2020 that was blocked in court. He seemingly reversed that position during his recent campaign.
A law signed by President Biden earlier this year will force a ban of the popular video-sharing app if ByteDance doesn’t divest itself of the platform by mid-January. Chew has said TikTok isn’t going anywhere, and in May, TikTok filed a federal lawsuit arguing the new law violates the free-speech rights of its users.
Proponents of the law frame it as an effort to stop potential spying on Americans and prevent the Chinese government from influencing the content TikTok serves to users. TikTok has said it wouldn’t comply with such demands from the Chinese government.
ByteDance executives had been hedging their bets before the election, meeting with people close to Trump and with people close to Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, said people familiar with the matter.
ByteDance has said it can’t and won’t sell TikTok’s U.S. operations. A person close to TikTok said the company is focused on its lawsuit against the legislation. A decision from the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., is expected by early December.
Georgia Wells contributed to this article.
Write to Juliet Chung at Juliet.Chung@wsj.com, Raffaele Huang at raffaele.huang@wsj.com and Dana Mattioli at dana.mattioli@wsj.com
The Trump Transition
Insights on the outlook for business, policy and the economy under Trump, selected by the editors
Copyright ©2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
