Speak about an influence lunch. It’s not every single day that the world’s two richest folks sit down for a meal collectively, but it surely occurred Friday in Paris when Tesla CEO and LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault dined at Cheval Blanc with members of the family.
Every man is price properly over $220 billion, with Musk at the moment holding the richest-person title they’ve repeatedly traded.
Additionally on the lunch was Musk’s mom, Maye Musk, and Arnault’s oldest son Antoine, who posted photographs from the lunch assembly on his Instagram account.
Elon Musk, his mother Maye simply completed having lunch with Bernard Arnault and his sons Antoine and Alexandre. Energy lunching in Paris at Cheval Blanc. On an excellent sunny day. @elonmusk @LVMH @mayemusk @alexarnault #VivaTech pics: Antoine’s Instagram- no particulars on subjects mentioned pic.twitter.com/UkCgRY6b8x
— Angelina Rascouët (@arascouet) June 16, 2023
A number of European nations need to host Tesla’s subsequent battery manufacturing facility, and Musk has been on a tour of the continent assembly varied leaders, together with Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Musk additionally spoke on the VivaTech convention in France on Friday, reiterating his warnings on the hazards to humanity posed by synthetic intelligence, whereas additionally admitting that he “didn’t suppose anybody would really agree” to the pause on A.I. improvement he referred to as for again in March.
He additionally joked, “If I’m so sensible, why did I pay a lot for Twitter?”
The 2 billionaires are acquainted figures on the wealthy record. Arnault has constructed LVMH into the world’s greatest luxurious group—suppose Louis Vuitton baggage, Moet champagne, or Givenchy fragrance. He bested Musk final yr however took successful because the slowing financial restoration in a China—a key marketplace for luxurious items—made traders much less passionate about LVMH shares.
Tesla shares, in the meantime, have surged greater than 140% this yr, serving to Musk reclaim his perch final month. Musk can be CEO of SpaceX and will see his wealth soar even larger if the corporate spins off its Starlink satellite-broadband unit in an IPO.
It wasn’t the primary assembly between Musk and Arnault. Additionally they met in Los Angeles final yr, with the luxurious tycoon later admitting to The Telegraph that he made a pretend pas by laughing when Musk stated he would colonize Mars. “I assumed he was joking,” Arnault informed the British paper. “However he was severe, and I don’t suppose he was finest happy.”
Musk might have the final snicker due to his house ambitions. In January, enterprise capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya predicted {that a} Starlink IPO would occur this yr and that Starlink’s valuation “might be at the very least half of SpaceX’s present personal price.” That very same month, CNBC reported that Musk’s house firm had raised $750 million at $137 billion valuation.
