Chinese dictator Xi Jinping meets Elon Musk and dines with Apple boss Tim Cook ... trends now
A dozen U.S. business leaders are facing criticism after attending the swanky $40,000-per-seat gala President Joe Biden hosted in San Francisco with Chinese President Xi Jinping as the 'guest of honor.'
Among the top leaders at the dinner surrounding the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting with Xi were Apple's Tim Cook and Executive Vice President of Boeing Stanley Deal.
Tesla, SpaceX and X CEO Elon Musk also made an appearance ahead of the gala for cocktail hour drinks where he rubbed elbows with the Chinese dictator amid rising tensions with the west. He departed before dinner began, according to multiple reports.
Musk was not on the list of corporate attendees and representatives at the gala, according to a program of the event obtained by DailyMail.com.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff also greeted Xi during cocktail hour but didn't stay for dinner.
Also not on the program but in attendance for Wednesday night's pricey dinner were executives from Pfizer, Nike and FedEx. Former California Gov. Jerry Brown also paid the premium to attend.
The soiree was held at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco, California and had a price tag of $40,000 per seat.
Many U.S. business leaders, including Apple's Tim Cook (pictured), attended the $40,000 per-head soiree on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in San Francisco on Wednesday night. The dinner included remarks from Chinese President Xi Jinping
Other unlisted business leaders that attended the dinner were executives with Nike, Pfizer and FedEx. Elon Musk stopped by for cocktail hour to rub shoulders with Xi, but didn't stay for dinner
The ballroom held 34 rose and orchid-laden tables – but were numbered 1-39 in order to skip number 13 as well as any number with a four, since in Chinese that sounds similar to the word 'death.'
Guests had the option of a coffee-crusted Black Angus steak or a vegetable curry with jasmine rice and toasted pistachios, the New York Times notes.
Biden's team is really rolling out the red carpet for Xi and other APEC leaders. The welcome reception for the summit featured a music performance by Gwen Stefani.
Musk's appearance comes the same night he was forced to backtrack on an earlier endorsement of an antisemitic post where he wrote: 'You have said the actual truth.'
He clarified two hours later that calls for 'a Jewish genocide' were 'unacceptable to any reasonable person.'
Xi, the leader of a country thought to be
