Did Elon Musk buy YouTube?

It seems like every other week Elon Musk has allegedly bought. As the wealthiest individual in the world, making all these purchases isn’t outside his means. And while Musk has eyed a few companies over the years, is YouTube also in the tech mogul’s peripheral vision? 

The source of the Musk-YouTube rumors

A few videos and articles have come out in the last few months claiming that Elon Musk has bought, or plans on buying YouTube. These videos usually state the plans the X CEO has for the site, and what the platform would look like owned by him. One of these videos from the YouTube channel Beyond Secrets reported on Musk’s purchase of YouTube and what this means for the site. According to the video, Musk, who is the CEO of companies like Tesla and SpaceX plans on using his “visionary approach” to innovate YouTube. 

The story goes that Musk kickstarted the acquisition by tweeting, “Time for YouTube to the future.” This kind of cryptic announcement isn’t exactly out of character for Musk, and the tweet unsurprisingly immediately went viral. Some of the proposed changes Musk would apparently bring to YouTube include more in-depth AI integration for more personalized recommendations, diversified means for creators to earn revenue besides ads, and a more creator and viewer-friendly platform.

Reactions ranged from ive to skeptical. Some people raised concern over Musk owning yet another popular platform, while others just wanted to know if he was going to rename the app something silly like XTube. But what is the truth?

Did Elon really buy YouTube?

No, there’s no verified evidence that Elon Musk bought YouTube, or that he plans on buying the platform. Rumors of Musk buying every social media platform have phased in and out of pop culture ever since he bought Twitter. Just last week, there was talk that he planned on buying TikTok. Just like with those rumors, the gossip that he plans on buying YouTube is unsubstantiated.

Unlike what was said in all these fake videos and news stories, Musk buying YouTube would probably be the worst thing to happen to the company. After he bought Twitter, and before rebranding to X, Musk fired multiple top management executives and laid off half of its workforce, with many more reg. Thanks to Musk’s “free speech” policy, there has also been a staggering increase in the spread of misinformation and hate speech on the app. YouTube remains the largest video-sharing platform in the world. Considering the questionable allegations that have always followed Musk, including his recent inauguration salute “slip up,” he’s the last person that a platform like YouTube should want to be d with.