Evan Kris
Jun 17, 2023
LVMH Chairman Arnault X Elon Musk
On June 16, the two richest people in the world, Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX, and Bernard Arnault, chairman of LVMH Group, had lunch in Paris.
The two entrepreneurs, who recently alternated among the world's richest, are worth a combined $470 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Arnault hosted Musk and his mother, Maye Musk, at a dinner at the LVMH-owned Cheval Blanc in Paris.
Antoine Arnault: Arnault's eldest son, Christian Dior (Dior) holding company CEO and vice chairman of the board of directors, LVMH group image and environmental director, CEO of Berluti, chairman of Loro Piana.
Alexandre Arnault: Arnault's second son, Tiffany & Co. (Tiffany), Executive Vice President of Products and Communications.
Maye Musk posted a photo of the lunch on his personal social media account and revealed that the lunch was carefully prepared by Arnaud Donckele, a three-star Michelin chef and chef of the Plénitude restaurant in the White Horse Hotel in Paris. Everyone also admired Paris on the roof terrace of the hotel. The landscape: in the photo, the Eiffel Tower is clearly visible in the distance.
A spokesman for the LVMH group said that the two sides discussed topics such as the French economy and investment but did not disclose more details.
Bernard Arnault previously said in an interview that he and Elon Musk met during a SpaceX rocket launch.
The meeting took place during Elon Musk's trip to Europe, where he had visited Rome the day before and met with Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni. Elon Musk also visited the Colosseum and held talks with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani about the auto industry. In Paris, Elon Musk also met again with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Elon Musk was also speaking at the VivaTech technology conference at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in France that afternoon, where he also joked that he might launch a fragrance with the Arnault family.
He also attended a forum that day with Antoine Arnault, who posed the question of whether AI would threaten the advertising industry. Elon Musk said, "AI will definitely become a huge disruptive force, possibly the most disruptive to date."
Additionally, he reiterated his concerns about the dangers of artificial intelligence. "There is a real danger of digital superintelligence with negative and possibly catastrophic outcomes." If there is an AI Armageddon, I think I still hope to live to see it. But I hope it doesn’t trigger it. "
