Apple’s In, Google’s Out, Who Spent $40K to Have Dinner with China’s Xi?

CEOs of Major U.S. Corporations Attend Dinner After U.S.-China Summit

After the U.S.-China summit, it appeared that CEOs from major U.S. corporations, including Apple’s CEO Tim Cook, whose participation was uncertain, attended a dinner hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping. However, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, did not participate, raising questions about why he was absent.

According to foreign media, including CNN and China’s Xinhua News Agency, on the 15th (local time), President Xi met with the leaders of major U.S. companies at a dinner following a four-hour meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit held in San Francisco, U.S.

Tim Cook’s Surprise Attendance

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple; Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla; Cristiano Amon, CEO of Qualcomm; and Hock Tan, CEO of Broadcom, along with other IT industry leaders, attended the dinner. Alongside them were Larry Fink, Chairman of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management company; Steve Schwarzman, founder of the U.S. private equity firm Blackstone; and Ryan McInerney, CEO of Visa, among other prominent U.S. financial representatives. Albert Bourla, CEO of global pharmaceutical company Pfizer, also made the attendance list.

Notably, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, who was initially not on the attendance list and expected to send another executive in his place, chose to attend the dinner himself. Reports also state that he met with President Yoon Suk Yeol before the dinner. However, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, Apple’s competitor, ultimately did not participate. This is likely because of the ongoing chilly relationship since China expelled Google from its market in 2010.

Meanwhile, President Xi welcomed the corporate executives in attendance at the dinner, stating, “China is ready to be a partner and friend to the U.S.” He emphasized his intention to increase exchanges between the two countries, saying, “We welcome more U.S. governors and congressmen to visit China. We will invite 50,000 young Americans to exchange with China over the next five years.”

Meanwhile, attendance at the dinner, held privately, was limited to 300 people. Despite the high cost of $40,000 per seat at the same table as President Xi, fierce competition for seats among U.S. business circles made headlines.

By. Lee Hyunwoo