Chinese investors privately take stakes in Elon Musk's companies

Wealthy Chinese investors are funneling tens of millions of dollars into private companies controlled by billionaire Elon Musk, using an arrangement that shields their identities from public view, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

The investments are being placed through special-purpose vehicles to avoid the ire of US authorities and companies wary of Chinese capital during a low-point in relations between the two countries, the report said, citing asset managers and investors involved in the transactions.

Three Chinese-backed asset managers told the Financial Times that they had sold more than $30 million of shares in SpaceX, xAI and Neuralink, three Musk-controlled private technology companies, to investors over the past two years.

The inflow of Chinese capital into Musk's business empire is primarily profit-driven and has little to do with technology transfer or influencing public policy, the people told the FT.

SpaceX, xAI and Neuralink did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Musk has long had contact with senior Chinese officials, including President Xi Jinping.

Musk's electric vehicle (EV) company Tesla makes its Model 3 and Model Y cars in China and also exports its China-made EVs to markets including Europe, where sales plunged 45 per cent in January.

Apart from Tesla, some of Musk's other ventures, including SpaceX and the social media platform X, which is banned in China, are viewed by Beijing as security risks.