Elon Musk makes surprise touchdown in small B.C. town
A small B.C town is buzzing after the world's richest man made an unexpected touchdown this past weekend.
Elon Musk, the CEO of X and Tesla and a former White House adviser, landed in Bella Bella on B.C.'s Central Coast on Saturday in a small private aircraft before being flown out by helicopter. He returned to the airstrip on Monday and flew out.
Local Seán Carter says the fishing community of about 1,500 people in the Great Bear Rainforest, 470 kilometres northwest of Vancouver, is used to seeing the rich and famous — including members of the Royal Family — pass through to take advantage of the recreational opportunities in the area, but Musk is at another level.
"It's not every day the richest man comes through," he said. "That's gonna be a tough one to top."
Carter says the common belief is Musk was passing through on his way to a property off the coast owned by James Murdoch, the son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch. The Globe and Mail reported in 2017 that the younger Murdoch had purchased a property for recreational use off the B.C. coast due to his love of the area. He is also a board member of Tesla, where Musk serves as CEO.
CBC News has reached out to Tesla for comment.
An online service which tracks a private jet belonging to Musk shows the craft landed in Vancouver late Friday night and left Monday afternoon. Those times align with photos provided to CBC News, which show Musk arriving in Bella Coola on Saturday and leaving on Monday.
Musk, who was born in South Africa, is a Canadian citizen through his mother, Maye Musk, who was born in Regina. As a teenager, he moved to Canada, where he says he lived and worked in Saskatchewan and Vancouver before studying at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont.
Earlier this year, he was the subject of a petition calling on the Canadian government to revoke his citizenship due to his role in Trump's White House, as the U.S. president was ramping up rhetoric about using a trade war to make Canada a state.
In B.C., Premier David Eby excluded Tesla products from its electric vehicle charger rebate program in response to U.S. tariffs, stating, "It's just for Tesla and it's because of Elon Musk."
Multiple Canadian municipalities and government agencies have also been re-evaluating their relationship with X, citing Musk's politics. Meanwhile, many rural communities have signed on to use Musk's satellite internet Starlink service to help provide connectivity in remote areas.
Musk has shared differing views on Canada over the years.
In 2023, he posted a picture of himself wearing an I Love Canada T-shirt and later that year posted a message stating, "I'm proudly half-Canadian." But in February 2025, in response to the petition to revoke his citizenship, he posted "Canada is not a real country," which he later deleted.
Emily Lowan, who is running for the leadership of the B.C. Green Party, shared photos of Musk's arrival in Bella Bella to her social media accounts, writing, "yet another reason to tax billionaires out of existence."
In a statement to CBC News, she said the ability of billionaires to build private havens in B.C. while using private jets that fuel the climate crisis is a "stark warning" to governments of the need for action.
Carter said there was plenty of debate about Musk over the weekend, but politics aside, having him pass through has been the "talk of the town" in Bella Bella.
"No matter what your opinions are of the guy, it was something to follow," he said.
And, he said, even though he arrived and left in a private jet, Musk wasn't able to get special treatment at the small-town airport.
"It was quite busy, so the plane had to land on one side and the helicopter on the other, so he had to get out and walk a long way," he said.
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