Elon Musk and Bernard Arnault, world's two richest people, meet for a power lunch in Paris

Elon Musk and Bernard Arnault met for lunch in Paris

Elon Musk and Bernard Arnault, the two richest people in the world, met for lunch in Paris on Friday, June 16. Pictures from their meeting were shared on Instagram by Antoine Arnault, the oldest son of Bernard Arnault.

French billionaire Bernard Arnault, 74, is the chairman and CEO of the LVMH empire, the world's largest luxury goods company. He is worth a staggering $233 billion – just a couple of billions short of Elon Musk, the South Africa-born chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX whose personal net worth is $236.9 billion, according to Forbes.

With a combined net worth of about $426 billion, it was little surprise that Musk, 51, and Arnault chose an ultra-luxurious venue for their lunch in Paris. According to Bloomberg, the two met at Cheval Blanc, a luxury hotel chain owned by Arnault’s LVMH. The LVMH portfolio also includes brands like Louis Vuitton, Sephora, Bulgari etc.

NEWS: Elon Musk and Maye Musk had lunch today in France with Bernard Arnault, founder and CEO of @LVMH. pic.twitter.com/GSWUZTS1aM

— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) June 16, 2023

On the French news program Quotidien, Arnault said he was meeting Musk because “I know him [and] I think he is an exceptional entrepreneur.”

Musk is in Paris to speak at the Viva Technology event. The Tesla CEO will also meet French President Emmanuel Macron to promote France as a possible site for one of the electric vehicle (EV) maker's factories as well as to discuss tech regulation.

Musk, who met Macron and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on May 15, said then he was confident Tesla would make "significant investments" in France in the future, but did not provide a timeline.

(With inputs from Reuters)