close_game
close_game

Trump inauguration: Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, among American billionaires seated ahead of cabinet picks

Jan 21, 2025 07:51 PM IST

According to the original plans to host the event outside, the industry leaders were supposed to be seated on dais with Donald Trump's family members and others

The world's richest billionaires, including the richest man Elon Musk, were in attendance during the swearing-in of Donald Trump as the new US President. The scenes resembled the annual gathering of the world's richest at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc., from left, Lauren Sanchez, Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com Inc., Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of Alphabet Inc., and Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., during the 60th presidential inauguration in the rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.(Bloomberg)
Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc., from left, Lauren Sanchez, Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com Inc., Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of Alphabet Inc., and Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., during the 60th presidential inauguration in the rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.(Bloomberg)

Follow Donald Trump inauguration live updates

Among those seated prominently, even ahead of Trump's cabinet picks, were Elon Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who have a combined Forbes estimated net worth of nearly $900 billion.

The official events are funded by Trump’s inauguration committee, to which billionaires donated millions of dollars ahead of the swearing-in. Bezos, Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi are among those who donated $1 million each to the fund.

The committee is chaired by longtime Trump ally Steve Witkoff, a real estate developer from New York and Trump's pick as a Middle East special envoy.

Also read | Why is Mark Zuckerberg's Meta replacing stringent fact checks with ‘liberal’ community notes?

The committee will be responsible for covering the costs of everything except the official swearing-in ceremony of Trump as President at the Capitol, which is borne by taxpayers.

According to the original plans to host the event outdoors, the industry leaders were supposed to be seated on the dais, sharing the moment with Trump's family members, former presidents and other VIPs.

However, the forecast of freezing temperatures forced the committee to move the event indoors, promoting the billionaires to a prominent seating position next to Trump's family members and ahead of cabinet picks, The Guardian reported.

Also read | TikTok restores US services, thanks Donald Trump for granting time to ‘make a deal’

The scenes symbolised the increasingly closer relationship between the incoming Trump administration and the billionaire elite. Musk sat near Trump during the event in the Capitol Rotunda, and he pumped his fists when the president promoted the goal of putting American astronauts on Mars. Musk has spent almost $250 million on Trump's re-election bid.

The significance of the moment was not lost on the Democrats. US Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, noted the favourable seating for the tech CEOs at the inaugural - in front of Trump's Cabinet nominees.

“Big Tech billionaires have a front row seat at Trump's inauguration. They have even better seats than Trump's own cabinet picks. That says it all,” Warren lamented in a post on X, which Musk owns.

US Senator Bernie Sanders called for fighting the ‘billionaires' control’ of the federal government and said that people now understood what he has been talking about for a long time. “When the 3 wealthiest men in America sit behind Trump at his inauguration, everyone understands that the billionaire class now controls our government. We must fight back,” Sanders said in a post on X.

(With AP inputs)

rec-icon Recommended Topics
Share this article
Read breaking news, latest updates from United States on topics related to politics, crime, along with national affairs. Stay up to date with news developments on Kamala Harris, Donald Trump,and Joe Biden along with Super Bowl 2025 Live Updates.
See More
Read breaking news, latest updates from United States on topics related to politics, crime, along with national affairs. Stay up to date with news developments on Kamala Harris, Donald Trump,and Joe Biden along with Super Bowl 2025 Live Updates.
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Thursday, February 13, 2025
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On