- Donald Trump is getting donations left and right from the biggest names in business.
- OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was the latest to give $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund.
- Tech leaders are angling to get or stay in his good graces and help shape his administration’s tech policy.
The latest business trend? Donating $1 million to Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Business leaders across industries are trying to get on the president-elect’s good side ahead of his return to the Oval Office, and some are breaking out their wallets — or their company’s — to do so.
The president-elect is receiving donations to his inaugural fund from the likes of Mark Zuckerberg through Meta, Jeff Bezos through Amazon, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Meta confirmed to BI earlier this week that it’s donating $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund. Amazon told the Financial Times it’s also giving $1 million to the fund and will also air the inauguration on Prime Video.
OpenAI’s Altman plans to kick in $1 million of his personal money to the inauguration fund, Fox News reported Friday, citing a source who works with Altman. Amazon and OpenAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment from BI.
Some of the tech leaders are trying to make peace with Trump after he repeatedly criticized them in his first four years at the White House and subsequently sued some of them. Trump has been vocal about wanting to go after Big Tech in his second term as well.
Trump’s victory in November set off a chorus of CEOs publicly congratulating him — as well as phone calls with the president-elect and trips to Mar-a-Lago.
Trump told CNBC on Thursday that Bezos would visit him “next week” for a dinner and The Information reported that Google CEO Sundar Pichai would also travel to meet with Trump. In its landmark antitrust case against Google, the Justice Department asked a judge to force Google to sell off Chrome, its web browser.
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Zuckerberg and Trump shared dinner at Mar-a-Lago last month months after Trump had threatened to imprison Zuckerberg if re-elected. Meta’s president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, told reporters earlier this month that Zuckerberg “is very keen to play an active role” in Trump’s tech policymaking.
Other big names in business were in attendance to watch Trump ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, the same day he was named TIME’s Person of the Year.
Onlookers reportedly included the likes of Pershing Square CEO Bill Ackman, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, Target CEO Brian Cornell, Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, and Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg.
