Elon Musk, world’s richest man, spotted in Bella Bella, B.C., on weekend visit
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/08/2025 (378 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Airport shuttle driver Sean Carter has lived in the remote northern British Columbia community of Bella Bella for almost nine years and says the small coastal village occasionally gets a celebrity visit.
Maybe a movie star or former athlete on a fishing trip. But nothing too high profile.
He said that was why he initially ignored a private jet at the local airport on Saturday — until he heard a commotion and people pulled out phones to take photos of Elon Musk, the world’s richest man.
But Carter did make sure to see Musk when he flew out on Monday, after getting a tip that he was on his way back to the airport in a helicopter.
“Sure enough, yeah, the helijet came back maybe an hour, half an hour later, and Elon Musk was the first guy,” Carter said.
“I had my big super-zoom camera with me … and sure enough, yeah, he’s looking out the window at me and doesn’t look too happy because I looked almost paparazzi-style, whereas everyone else just had their cellphones out.”
Carter said his photos didn’t turn out very well.
But another person’s photos published by the CBC show the Tesla CEO’s arrival on Saturday at the fishing and logging community of about 1,000 residents for his trip with an unknown purpose, with a young boy on his shoulders.
An account on the social media platform X that tracks Musk’s private plane shows it arrived in Vancouver on Saturday before flying out to Seattle, Wash., then San Jose, Calif., on Monday.
Tesla did not immediately responded to a request for comment.
Carter said he believed Musk may have been visiting James Murdoch, son of media magnate Rupert Murdoch, who has been reported to own a waterfront property nearby.
Carter said the Bella Bella area sees some luxury yachts and private planes because of nearby fishing resorts, but it has rarely — if ever — been visited by someone as high profile as Musk.
“This is a very small village,” Carter said. “And yeah, we’ll get the odd celebrity, maybe movie star that goes through to a fishing lodge or an athlete, former athlete or something.
“But to see the world’s richest man … however you feel about him personally, it’s still a big deal.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 20, 2025.