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Xinyi Wu

The business executives accompanying US President Donald Trump on his state visit to Beijing this week are the wealthiest such delegation to visit China – holding a combined personal net worth of over US$1 trillion – an indication of continued interest in the country’s lucrative market despite strained bilateral ties.
With Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s last-minute addition to the delegation, 17 executives from the technology, finance, aerospace and semiconductor sectors have joined Trump, who landed in Beijing on Wednesday evening.
The delegation’s collective wealth exceeds US$1.07 trillion, according to data from Forbes and United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings compiled by Quiver Quantitative, and each member holds a significant commercial stake in the bilateral relationship.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk leads the group with a personal net worth of US$827 billion, representing over 77 per cent of the delegation’s total wealth.
Musk was seeking a licence to sell robotaxis in China and also wanted to increase sales of his artificial intelligence robots in the country, said Arthur Kroeber, head of research at Gavekal Dragonomics, in a note issued on Tuesday.
Huang ranks second, with a personal net worth of US$194 billion. His firm, a global leader in the design of the computer chips that power AI models, has had to navigate US export restrictions on the hi-tech products that can be sold in the enormous Chinese market.
While Washington permits the sale of Nvidia’s H200 graphics processing units in China – subject to a 25 per cent surcharge paid to the US Treasury – it has banned the sale of the company’s more advanced models to Chinese customers.
But China has been doubling down on efforts to boost self-sufficiency in the tech sector, and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick recently told the US Senate that China had not bought any H200s.




Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman ranks third in the delegation with a personal net worth of US$40 billion. Kroeber said that alongside the CEOs of BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Visa and Mastercard, Schwarzman was seeking further liberalisation of restrictions on access to China’s financial sector.
Meanwhile, he added, executives from tech companies “probably want assurance that China will keep up the flow of rare earths and other critical minerals required for their production processes”.
Apple’s Tim Cook, with a personal net worth of US$2.9 billion, and semiconductor maker Micron’s Sanjay Mehrotra, with a personal net worth of US$1.1 billion, are also part of the delegation.
Analysts have suggested the US also wants to secure a major aircraft order. Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, a delegation member with a personal net worth of at least US$32.4 million, will reportedly be looking to negotiate a deal for as many as 500 jets.
“With the impressive group of American CEOs joining President Trump in Beijing, we may see some preliminary announcements of commercial deals,” the Asia Society Policy Institute said in a report issued on Wednesday.
“But given the last-minute invitations to join the summit, time may be insufficient to get these deals over the finish line.”
Trump vowed in a social media post on Wednesday that he would ask President Xi Jinping “to ‘open up’ China so that these brilliant people can work their magic”, referring to his business delegation.
“In fact, I promise, that when we are together, which will be in a matter of hours, I will make that my very first request,” he said, adding that it would be beneficial to both countries.
During Trump’s previous state visit in 2017, Chinese and US companies signed dozens of deals worth a total of more than US$253 billion across sectors including energy, chemicals and infrastructure. However, many never materialised.


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The 17 American business executives accompanying US president are the wealthiest such delegation to visit the country


The 17 American business executives accompanying US president are the wealthiest such delegation to visit the country.


Trump’s trillion-dollar business delegation arrives in China, eager for deals

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The 17 American business executives accompanying US president are the wealthiest such delegation to visit the country

The 17 American business executives accompanying US president are the wealthiest such delegation to visit the country