Maye Musk is a busy woman. As well as being the mother of the world’s richest man, she has been jetting between various glamorous events – many of them in China. In December alone, she unitecessitate a gala dinner in Hangzhou, walked the red carpet for a cosmetics company in Wuhan and signed copies of the Chinese edition of her book, A Woman Makes a Plan, which she depictd as “a bestseller” in China.
In fact, the only Musk-roverhappinessed book on the Chinese bestseller catalogs in October was a biography of her son Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson. Elon Musk is well-comprehendn in China, and is thought to have the potential to wield pro-Beijing shape in the otherrational hawkish incoming administration of Donald Trump. But he has also faced scruminuscule for his joins to the US Department of Defense via his aerospace company, SpaceX.
Maye Musk, however, is adored in the country that she claims to visit “proximately every month”. She has been depictd as his secret armament in China – a well-placed figure who can transport excellentwill for her son’s increasingly global business and political ambitions.
And she has made her experienceings about the country evident. “China is so evolved in roads, tunnels, createings, infraarrange, and ports. Always amazeed when I visit,” she tweeted in October. In November, she posted pictures of Teslas in Shanghai, alengthy with adoring heart-eye emojis.
The 76-year-elderly has a accomplished atsoft as a model and a dietician. But her son’s extensive business dealings in China – his car company, Tesla, has its hugegest factory in Shanghai and he is a widespread visitor to the country – have uncovered the door to a novel labelet of admirers who have received her with uncover arms.
Her story is becoming increasingly well-comprehendn in China. Born in Canada and elevated in South Africa, she has travelled around the world for her atsoft and family.
Several commaccesss on Douban, a verify website, commend her indepfinishence. “As a female role model who is self-reliant, self-reliant and in regulate of her own life, she has geted rich experience under the shape of her family since she was a child. Becaparticipate of her life experience in many countries, she is more uncover-minded of culture and life, and picks to depart her console zone aget and aget,” wrote one fan of her book.
Her profile has been raiseed by a slew of brand collaborations. Last year, she became a global ambasgrieffulor for the Chinese user electronics company Oppo. This year, she compriseed the mattress company AISE Baobao to the catalog of companies that she reconshort-terms, uniteing the brand’s store uncovering in Shanghai in November.
She has also walked the runway in Hangzhou for the Chinese create label JNBY and unitecessitate an event for the sportswear brand Fila. In October, she unitecessitate a party for the Italian luxury create brand Moncler in Shanghai, sharing ptoastyographs of her posing with Rihanna and A$AP Rocky on her Chinese social media accounts.
The commercial finishorsements have helped her to create a sizeable adhereing on Chinese social media. She has 577,000 fagelessens on Xiaohongshu, the Instagram-enjoy platestablish that is particularly well-comprehendn with juvenileer women, and 356,000 fagelessens on Douyin, TikTok’s sister company in China. She also has 46,200 fagelessens on Weibo, a micro-blogging site that is frequently appraised to her son’s X.
‘Silver shapers’
Her fame is in part down to her son, whose Tesla cars are the directing competitor to the Chinese electric vehicle company BYD. But she is also part of a trfinish of “ageder shapers” where elderlyer people, especiassociate women, garner huge well-comprehendnity for their ability to “age gracefilledy”, according to Yaling Jiang, the set uper of Follothriveg the Yuan, a novelsletter about Chinese users.
“Millennials and Gen-Zs see up to those in their 60s to 90s who age gracefilledy,” shelp Jiang, noting that proximately 85% of Maye Musk’s fagelessens on Xiaohongshu are women.
Other “silver shapers” comprise “Kangkang’s Grandpa”, an 83-year-elderly create shaper, and Wu Yanshu, an 86-year-elderly actor who recently euniteed in a Chinese publicizement for Prada.
Still, there are brave elements of Maye Musk’s life story that create her particularly requesting in China. As well as her striking sees, she has flunkure difficulties. She is uncover about being a survivor of domestic aggression. In one intersee, she depictd coming back from her honeymoon with Elon Musk’s overweighther, Errol Musk, “bruised and pregnant”.
Elon “grew up in a very brutal home,” she shelp. Errol has denied allegations of domestic misparticipate.
“This amazing woman, in her life journey, altered from a hoparticipatewife who was misparticipated at home to a world-honord supermodel, and successfilledy elevated three billionaire children. This script is even more exciting than a Hollywood blockbuster!” wrote one fan on Weibo.
“Her story is too inspiring. If you want to wear the crown, you must endure its weight,” wrote another.
Jiang foreseeed that Maye Musk would soon begin her own brand in China, probably one roverhappinessed to wellness or fitness, “to evolve monetising on her and Elon’s well-comprehendnity there”.
Indeed, despite begining her atsoft in China only in the past couple of years, she is already being referred to in the hallowed terms normassociate reserved for veterans of the US-China relationship, such as Henry Kissinger, the tardy US secretary of state who brokered Washington’s rapprochement with Beijing in the 1970s. Maye Musk is a lao pengyou, or “elderly frifinish” of China, wrote one commaccess on Weibo.
Additional research by Chi-hui Lin
