The White House is inviting Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk, Apple Inc.’s Tim Cook, Boeing Co.’s Kelly Ortberg and executives from other large companies to accompany President Donald Trump on his trip to China this week, according to an official.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s David Solomon, Blackstone Inc.’s Stephen Schwarzman, BlackRock Inc.’s Larry Fink, Citigroup Inc.’s Jane Fraser and Meta Platforms Inc.’s Dina Powell McCormick are also on the list of those expected to join Trump’s delegation for his summit with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, a White House official said Monday.
Musk’s inclusion is the latest sign the relationship between the US president and world’s richest man has been repaired. Musk oversaw the administration’s effort last year to downsize the federal government, but they had an ugly falling out that culminated in Musk’s departure. The two men have since patched up their differences.
The group of more than a dozen top executives is joining Trump for a visit later this week that the US president hopes will unlock a series of business deals and purchase agreements with Beijing. It is comprised mostly of representatives of major financial, technology, aerospace and agricultural firms. US officials have said that Trump wants to finalize the details of a board of trade with China during the trip.
Larry Culp of General Electric Co., Brian Sikes of Cargill Inc., Sanjay Mehrotra of Micron Technology Inc. and Cristiano Amon of Qualcomm Inc. are also expected to attend, the official said. Rounding out the list is Visa Inc.’s Ryan McInerney, Mastercard Inc.’s Michael Miebach, Illumina Inc.’s Jacob Thaysen and Coherent Corp.’s Jim Anderson.
Chuck Robbins of Cisco Systems Inc. appeared on the White House official’s list but a company spokesperson said later he would be unable to accept the invitation, citing upcoming earnings.
Tesla shares jumped as much as 1.3%, reversing losses of about 2.7% earlier in the session, and Coherent stock sharply extended gains. Shares of Illumina, GE, Boeing, Visa, Mastercard and Apple all hit session highs after Bloomberg reported the list of names.
Boeing is said to be closing in on one of the largest sales in its history, a 500-aircraft order for 737 Max jets set to be unveiled when Trump travels to Beijing, according to people familiar with the matter. Ortberg said last month the order has the potential to be a “big number.”
Qualcomm confirmed Amon’s attendance. Tesla, Apple, Micron, and Coherent did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Meta declined to comment.
The delegation list does not include Jensen Huang, chief executive officer of Nvidia Corp., the world’s most valuable company and maker of the advanced chips powering the global AI boom, according to a person familiar with the matter. His exclusion marks a potential setback for Nvidia in its bid to export its AI processors to China, a market that Huang has said could reach $50 billion in sales.
The company had no comment. Huang said last week on CNBC he would join the delegation if invited.
Electric Cars
China is the world’s largest car market and a crucial one for Tesla. The electric-vehicle maker is working to stabilize its business in China as it contends with fierce competition from homegrown manufacturers such as BYD Co. Vehicle shipments last month from Tesla’s Shanghai factory, which serves both the local and export markets, climbed 36% from a year earlier.
The company hopes to get a boost later this year from the possible approval of its automated-driving technology by Chinese regulators.
