HONG KONG — Oh, Mom!
Tech billionaire Elon Musk is already huge in China — but now his 76-year-old mother is a rapidly rising star there as well.
Maye Musk, a model and dietitian, has been a frequent visitor to China since last year, gaining a big online following from a Chinese public curious to know more about the woman who raised their business idol while becoming a celebrity in her own right as a “silver-haired influencer.”
During her travels, she makes a point of supporting her son’s business interests, noting in social media posts how many Teslas she sees on Chinese roads even as the U.S. electric vehicle maker faces growing competition from domestic rivals such as BYD.
She is also full of praise for the country.
“China is so advanced in roads, tunnels, buildings, infrastructure, and ports,” she wrote on her son’s social media platform X in October. “Always impressed when I visit.”
Musk told Women’s Wear Daily in February that she visited 12 Chinese cities last year for speaking engagements and modeling. Speaking to the publication in New York, she brushed off the idea that Chinese tensions with the U.S. might dampen her travel there.
“When I go to China, everybody’s happy, friendly and fun,” she said. “Even with my friends here, they all want to visit China now.”
Musk has quickly amassed a substantial number of followers on Chinese social media, including about 575,000 on Xiaohongshu, China’s equivalent of Instagram, and 355,000 on Douyin, China’s equivalent of TikTok.
Musk is one of a number of “silver-haired influencers” in China, a fast-aging country where there is growing concern about aging well.
“Physical beauty fades, but after enduring the test of time, her demeanor becomes more refined, her grace more noble — truly admirable,” one person wrote on Xiaohongshu.
Much of her popularity stems from her 2019 memoir, “A Woman Makes a Plan,” which was translated into Chinese the following year, said Ashley Dudarenok, the founder of ChoZan, a China-focused digital consultancy based in Hong Kong.
The book traces Musk’s “unconventional career path,” Dudarenok said, as well as her struggle to provide for her three children as a single mother after divorcing their father, Errol Musk, at age 31.
“She basically did it her way,” Dudarenok said. “That was one message that resonated very strongly.”
The other appeal, she said, “was that people wanted to figure out, how do you actually give birth [to] and raise billionaires?”
The book has found an audience among working women in China, who are increasingly resistant to social pressure to get married and have children, even as the Chinese government clamps down on the feminist movement and says it is up to them to boost the national birth rate.
“A must-read for all girls! Thank you for showing us the resilience and strength of women,” one Xiaohongshu user wrote.
Though much of the initial interest in Maye Musk came because of Elon, “she is really becoming kind of her own personality,” Dudarenok said.
Older Chinese, who in the past would have devoted all their spare time and money to their grandchildren and other family members, have in recent years realized “that they have this whole life ahead of them, 20, 30 years ahead,” Dudarenok said.
“They have hobbies, they look after themselves in terms of fashion, nutrition, skin care and whatnot,” she said. “And they love to see those role models of somebody who is aging gracefully.”
For Musk, that means appearing on magazine covers and lots of opportunities to endorse products. She has walked the runway for Chinese apparel brand JNBY and appeared at an event in Shanghai this year for the sportswear brand Fila.
She is also a global brand ambassador for Chinese mattress brand AISE Baobao, attending a store opening in Shanghai this month, and has appeared in smartphone advertisements for Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer Oppo.
Her popularity in China could come in handy for her son. Though Elon Musk is still widely admired, Dudarenok said there has been a “cooling off” in public opinion since he financially backed the campaign of President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to be tough on China.
Given his close ties to Trump — who has asked Musk to head up a new “Department of Government Efficiency” — Musk could take part of the blame if U.S.-China relations deteriorate under the new administration.
Maye Musk’s positive image, Dudarenok said, “helps to make Elon’s future political career and business success in China even more human.”
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