What happened when the world’s two richest men met for lunch? Billionaires Elon Musk and Bernard Arnault’s went to LVMH’s Cheval Blanc in Paris, along with Maye Musk and Alexandre and Antoine Arnault

Jun 19 , 2023

The world’s two richest people, Elon Musk and Bernard Arnault, met up recently. Photos: Bloomberg, AFP

The world’s two richest billionaires Elon Musk and Bernard Arnault met up on Friday at luxury hotel Cheval Blanc in Paris, alongside Maye Musk and the LVMH boss’ kids – Alexandre and Antoine

The Twitter owner also got together with Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni and French president Emmanuel Macron to discuss AI – and potentially building a Tesla factory in France

SpaceX and Tesla boss Elon Musk and Bernard Arnault, the CEO of LVMH, met at Cheval Blanc, the luxury hotel run by the French conglomerate, on Friday.

Billionaires Bernard Arnault and Elon Musk met up in Paris. Photo: @mayemusk/Instagram

As of June, Arnault is worth US$202 billion, making him the world’s second-richest person behind Musk, whose net worth is US$233 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Musk lost his crown to the French tycoon last year, but a surge in Tesla’s share price this year means he’s once again at the top.

They were joined by Elon’s mother Maye Musk as well as Alexandre and Antoine Arnault, as a photo uploaded on Alexandre’s Instagram Story shows. Another photo on Instagram he posted shows them meeting on a terrace that has views of the Eiffel Tower.

Alexandre Arnault, Maye Musk, Bernard Arnault, Elon Musk and Antoine Arnault pose for a photo on the rooftop of luxury hotel Cheval Blanc. Photo: @mayemusk/Instagram

Arnault reportedly told French TV station Quotidien he thought Musk was “an exceptional entrepreneur”, but details of what they discussed over lunch haven’t yet emerged. It’s also unclear what was on the menu.

Later in the day, Musk joked at the VivaTech conference that he could launch a perfume in conjunction with the Arnault family.

The Tesla CEO was also joined on stage by Antoine Arnault, who asked him if the advertising industry was threatened by AI. Musk responded: “AI is definitely going to be a massive disruptive force and probably the most disruptive tech ever.”

Elon Musk in Europe

Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni meeting with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk at Chigi Palace in Rome, Italy, on June 15. Photo: EPA-EFE

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