WASHINGTON (AP) – Dinner is supposed to be a chance to unwind after a tough day at the office, but the extravagant dinner that President Barack Obama put on in honor of Chinese President Xi Jinping served up plenty of opportunities to keep the business talk going well into the night.
The head table where Obama and Xi sat was studded with top brass from many of America’s leading corporations, including Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Disney, DreamWorks and others eager to chat up the leader of the world’s most populous country.
The 200-plus guest list for Friday’s soiree in the East Room of the White House was a business-heavy mashup of Hollywood, diplomacy and corporate chieftains, seasoned with the addition of ballerina Misty Copeland and Mark Cuban, owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks.
Asked as he arrived whether the evening would be about business or pleasure, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg said: “Fun. I hope.”
For more than a few guests, a night at the White House was a chance to score points with a parent or other family member brought along as the “plus one.”