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.
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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.
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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.