Maye Musk – Elon’s mother

Maye Musk, Elon Musk’s 76-year-old mother, has become a cultural icon in China. Her career as a model, nutritionist and global brand ambassador has resonated with China’s growing middle class, particularly women, who admire her for her “graceful aging” and empowerment. A regular since 2023, Maye has collaborated with top brands such as Oppo and Fila, while the success of her memoir has cemented her as a symbol of wisdom, strong parenting and inspiration for modern Chinese audiences.

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From Bloomberg News

Although Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk is likely to become a more controversial figure in China as part of Donald Trump’s administration, his mother is still a clear favorite in the country.

This month, Maye Musk attended the store opening of Chinese mattress brand AISE Baobao in Shanghai, for which she is a global brand ambassador. In early 2024, she walked the runway for local clothing brand JNBY in Hangzhou and attended an event in the financial capital Shanghai for Fila, the sportswear brand owned by China’s Anta Sports Products Ltd.

Since early 2023, she has been visiting the country regularly for lectures and modeling jobs, starring in advertisements and commercials promoting consumer electronics company Oppo’s popular Find X6 Pro smartphone, and collaborating with handbag brand Oleada on a limited-edition collection. The silver-haired 76-year-old’s popularity is also surging on Chinese social media, with numerous posts on the Instagram-like platform Xiaohongshu, where she has around 576,000 followers and generates hundreds of comments and thousands of likes.

Her popularity in China increased in 2020 when her memoir was published A Woman Makes a Plan: Advice for a Life of Adventure, Beauty and Success was published in Chinese and was particularly popular among female readers. Chinese view her as a symbol of strong upbringing and wisdom, and her bond with her son gives her image a tech-savviness that suits the promotion of brands like Oppo, said Olivia Plotnick, founder of Wai Social, a social media marketing agency in Shanghai.

“Maye Musk embodies the ideals of aging gracefully and empowerment. Her career as a model and nutritionist in her 70s challenges traditional ideas about aging,” Plotnick said. “This resonates greatly with China’s growing middle class women, who look to China as a source of inspiration.”

Power mom

It’s not just a not-so-secret weapon for Chinese brands looking to attract customers. Maye Musk could also become a source of soft power for her son in a country where he has invested billions of dollars – a relationship that could be shaken by his starring role in Donald Trump’s White House, with the president-elect already on tariffs at this level there is a risk of 60% on Chinese goods.

China is a crucial market for Tesla, producing about half of its electric vehicles there. Elon Musk himself has made numerous visits to the mainland, where he is usually welcomed by senior Chinese leaders. However, Tesla faces not only political uncertainty, but also competition from local rivals such as BYD Co., whose record performance has already led to protectionist tariffs in the US and EU.

Tesla’s Shanghai factory deliveries fell in October, a potential setback to the company’s forecast of delivering a record number of cars in 2024, even as rivals such as BYD and Geely Automotive Holdings Ltd. recorded unprecedented domestic sales. Chinese leader Xi Jinping used his last meeting with outgoing US President Joe Biden to emphasize that conflict between the two countries is not inevitable.

Since Trump’s election victory earlier this month, some comments on Maye Musk’s Xiaohongshu account have focused on her son’s ties to the new US president, for whom he will serve as co-head of the new Ministry of Government Efficiency.

“As long as Elon Musk doesn’t forget how the Chinese helped him build a gigafactory and doesn’t let Trump do stupid things, the Chinese will be happy to give you a platform,” one person wrote.

Maye Musk was a fixture in the fashion world long before she appeared on China’s social scene. She began her modeling career as a teenager in South Africa and has since accompanied her son to the Met Gala in New York and graced the covers of Vogue and, in her 70s, the Swimsuit Issue of Sports Illustrated.

Outside the mainland, she has more than a million followers each on Instagram and X, her son’s social media platform. Although both services are suspended on the mainland, she still posts about her travels during her visits, occasionally noting how many Tesla vehicles she has seen on the country’s roads.