The businessman was a guest of Macron in May 2023 Choosing the France summit intended to attract foreign investments. Musk, who arrived at the Palais d’Elysée in a Tesla, was to speak to the French president of the creation of a factory for his car brand in the near future. At the end of the meeting, Musk announced that Tesla would make “significant investments in France”.
“Let’s work together,” replied Macron in a message on X accompanied by a photo of the duo.
Tesla never ended up investing a lot of money in France, rather choosing to extend her German gigafactory. Last year, the Italian government of Giorgia Meloni also announced that it had opened discussions with the American automaker.
The French president’s office has still not given up trying to court millions of musk. The Elysée again welcomed the musc with large fashion when he went to Paris to watch the boss of LVMH Bernard Arnault receive the great cross of the Legion of Honor in March. Unlike other advertisers, the luxury conglomerate of Arnault has not withdrawn its X announcements in response to Musk’s policy.
When Musk and Macron met again at head, the two had “a very open discussion with the billionaire on X, digital regulations and the strengthening of French sovereignty” by trying to attract investments in The country, according to the entourage of Macron.
An organizer of the AI summit, who obtained anonymity in order to speak frankly, said that Macron’s strategy with Musk was very similar to the way the French president managed the Russian leader Vladimir Putin in the initial consequences of the invasion of Ukraine.
“As long as you can speak, you do, hoping to avoid the worst,” said the organizer. “The idea was always to say that we needed him in terms of investment, because he is a great actor, near Donald Trump.”
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