Janet Yellen, Treasury Secretary, retracted prior comments while highlighting Wednesday that Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover may be reviewed by the government if necessary.
Yellen minimized the possibility of a review by the government of Musk’s Twitter acquisition. She claimed earlier in the month that she saw “no basis” during a CBS interview. However, during Wednesday’s New York Times event, Yellen said she was “misspoke” and reversed her position.
Musk’s connections to foreign investors have attracted increased scrutiny from skeptics like President Joe Biden. Biden argued that Musk’s “relationships” with other countries merits being examined.
Politico reported that Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and his Kingdom Holding Company were the second largest investors in Twitter after the $44 billion acquisition. Musk also has large investments in China to produce and sell his Tesla electric cars.
Some members of China’s Communist Party asked him to remove the “state-affiliated media” labels from their Twitter accounts. This raises questions about the CCP’s influence on his management of the social media giant.
Yellen is the treasury secretary and heads the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. This committee studies foreign investment. Yellen initially dismissed these concerns when a CBS correspondent pressed her to investigate Musk’s ties with foreign investors.
She is now keeping the door open and insisting that if there are any risks, it would be appropriate for CIFUS “to take a look,” reports stated.
Because of his federal contract work, Musk’s connections to foreign investors have been under scrutiny. SpaceX has agreements with NASA, and his Starlink satellite internet network has been used by the Ukrainians to coordinate their fight against Russian invaders.
Yellen also stated that TikTok, a Chinese-owned social media platform, is under government scrutiny. According to reports, the Biden administration is considering whether the platform should be allowed to continue operating in the United States as a subsidiary of Chinese parent ByteDance.
