As CEOs Head to China, Elon Musk Hailed as 'Global Idol' and Treated to 16-Course Dinner Elon Musk, Jamie Dimon and Laxman Narasimhan are all in town for separate business matters.
By Emily Rella
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
It's a busy week in China as some of the biggest names in U.S. business are in town — Elon Musk, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, and Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan have all gone overseas.
Dimon, who's there for a three-day JPMorgan summit in Shanghai, is hoping his visit will help smooth things over after he made a joke in 2021 that his company would outlast the Chinese Communist Party.
"You're not going to fix these things if you are just sitting across the Pacific yelling at each other. So I'm hoping we have real engagement," he said at the conference this week.
Narasimhan is also in Shanghai for business meetings and announced that he's doubling down on plans to open another estimated 2,800 locations in China by the end of 2025, hoping that the country will become the coffee chain's biggest market.
But all eyes have been on Musk, who arrived in style via private jet to Beijing on Tuesday before heading to Shanghai on Wednesday to check up on Tesla's factory and meet with staff members there, according to Reuters.
Musk is visiting the country for the first time in three years after pandemic-era restrictions hindered travel to the country, and the masses are happy to see him.
Reuters also reported Musk is being called a "global idol" and "Brother Ma," in reference to famed Chinese billionaire and businessman Jack Ma who co-founded Alibaba.
Chinese social media and blogging site Weibo shows what appears to be a customized menu for dinner, along with Musk's arrival, who's seen entering the building with Chinese billionaire Zeng Yuqun, founder of battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology.
Musk and Yuqun in Shanghai this week via Weibo
The menu at Man Fu Yan proudly displays Tesla's logo, featuring 16 courses and an homage to the electric car company calling it a "dark horse, standing out from traditional automotive companies and making remarkable achievements."
The menu for Musk's dinner in Shanghai via Weibo
Tesla, which opened its Shanghai gigafactory in 2018, is set to begin construction on a battery factory at the same location by Q3 of 2023, with production estimated to reach completion by Q2 of 2024.
Tesla's Megapack, a rechargeable battery energy storage device used at battery storage stations, will primarily be produced in the new facility.
Musk did not post on social media about his visit overseas.
