By Matthew Field

The world’s two richest men met for a $470bn lunch on Friday as Elon Musk and luxury goods tycoon Bernard Arnault dined together in Paris.

Mr Musk, worth $237bn, and Mr Arnault, the 74-year-old behind luxury goods group LVMH who is worth $233bn, enjoyed a power lunch at the five star Cheval Blanc Maison with their respective families.

The pair were pictured together overlooking the Eiffel Tower in a photo shared by Bernard Arnault’s son, Antoine, on his Instagram account. Mr Musk’s mother, Maye Musk, also attended the lunch.

Bernard Arnault has built LVMH into the world’s biggest luxury group, behind brands spanning Moet champagne to Louis Vuitton luggage. He has traded places  repeatedly with Mr Musk for the title of world’s richest man over the last year, with the Tesla chief currently out in front.

Mr Musk was already acquainted with Mr Arnault, the two having met at a SpaceX launch. The head of the Louis Vuitton empire told The Telegraph last year: “We were there at the launch of SpaceX in LA, and he put me in the driving seat of one of his latest driverless cars.”

The pair dined at one of Europe’s most expensive hotels. Opulent rooms at the Cheval Blanc that overlook the river Seine can cost as much as £8,000 per night. A 7,000-square-foot Quintessence Suite covering the top two floors, featuring four ensuite bedrooms, a private pool and grand marble bath tubs is also available and thought to cost tens of thousands of euros per night.

The group met during a whistle stop tour of Europe by Mr Musk, who had visited Rome the day before where he met with Prime Minister Georgia Meloni. The Tesla chief also visited the Colosseum and held talks with Antonio Tajani, the country’s foreign minister, on the automotive sector.

During his flying visit to Paris, Mr Musk once again met with French President Emmanuel Macron. It is the second in less than a month the pair have met as Mr Macron seeks to attract investment from Tesla.

Ahead of his meeting, Mr Macron told reporters he would be “selling France” in an effort to convince the billionaire to locate an electric battery “gigafactory” in the country.  Mr Macron tweeted a photo of the pair shaking hands with the caption “Let’s work together!”.

A spokesman for the Élysée Palace declined to comment on what was discussed.

Tesla already has a gigafactory near Berlin, where the company is hoping to produce 500,000 electric cars this year.

Officials in Spain are also reportedly trying to convince Tesla to build a plant near Valencia, as European nations offer up a platter of subsidies to electric car makers to attract investment.

The billionaire, who flew into Paris on his $70m Gulfstream jet, was not expected to pay a visit to officials in London, a government source said.

Mr Musk on Friday also spoke at the Vivatech technology conference at the Porte de Versailles expo centre in France where he reiterated his concerns over the dangers of artificial intelligence. 

“There is a real danger for a digital super intelligence having negative consequences,” he said, warning of a potentially “catastrophic outcome”.

He added that if there was an “AI armageddon I think I would still want to be alive to see it… and hopefully not cause it”.