Top U.S. CEOs worth nearly $1 trillion accompany Trump to China

President Trump arrived in China alongside a delegation of billionaire U.S. executives, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, underscoring the high stakes for American companies as Washington and Beijing negotiate over trade, artificial intelligence and the Iran war.

The executives — whose combined net worth approaches $1 trillion — lead companies with major business interests in China, despite years of trade disputes between the world’s two largest economies.

Musk, whose fortune stands at about $688 billion, is the world’s wealthiest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Huang, whose net worth totals roughly $183 billion, is also part of the U.S. delegation, according to a list of attendees provided to CBS News by the White House.

Musk and others have confirmed their attendance, the Associated Press reported, citing a White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter. 

Musk traveled with Mr. Trump aboard Air Force One, along with Nvidia’s Huang. Filmmaker Brett Ratner, who directed the documentary “Melania,” was also on the flight.

Additional U.S. business leaders who are traveling to Beijing include Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, with a net worth of $47.5 billion, and Apple CEO Tim Cook, whose fortune stands at $2.9 billion. Other executives who will attend include Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and Meta President and Vice Chair Dina Powell McCormick, according to The Associated Press.

Nvidia produces chips that are helping fuel the AI boom, and Huang and other executives view the trip as an opportunity to strengthen ties in the Chinese market.

Mr. Trump confirmed in a social media post late Tuesday that Huang had joined him aboard Air Force One while highlighting the business leaders traveling with him to China.

Here are the executives Mr. Trump said are “journeying to the Great Country of China” with him. 

• Cristiano Amon, CEO of Qualcomm
• Tim Cook, CEO of Apple
• Larry Culp, CEO of GE Aerospace
• Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock
• Jane Fraser, CEO of Citigroup
• Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia
• Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of Micron Technology
• Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX
• Kelly Ortberg, CEO of Boeing
• Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone
• Brian Sikes, CEO of Cargill
• David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs

Mr. Trump said in the same post that he plans to ask President Xi “to ‘open up’ China so that these brilliant people can work their magic, and help bring the People’s Republic to an even higher level!”