The C.E.O. Inaugural Crowd
In a powerful demonstration of wealth and influence, the world’s three richest individuals were seated front and center at the Capitol Rotunda on Monday to witness Donald Trump’s swearing-in as the 47th president.
The message was unmistakable: With a president who prides himself on his deal-making, Washington is open for business.
Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg, whose combined net worth approaches a trillion dollars, were positioned in front of Trump’s cabinet picks and behind his family, establishing a visible hierarchy of influence. Sundar Pichai, the billionaire CEO of Google, sat between Bezos and Musk.
The imagery spoke volumes. Meanwhile, Trump’s inaugural speech, which promised to usher in a “golden age of America” while addressing polarizing topics like gender politics, brought few unexpected revelations.
The list of prominent invitees highlighted significant political dynamics, as noted by The Times’s Mike Isaac, Karen Weise, Ryan Mac, Cade Metz, Cecilia Kang, and Theodore Schleifer. It was also noteworthy who was relegated to the less prominent sections, including Republican governors Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis. (Here’s a zoomed-in view of the V.I.P. section.)
This inauguration marked a sharp contrast to Trump’s first presidential run, when tech moguls and other business leaders mostly steered clear of him, only attending a summit reluctantly after his White House victory.
Since Election Day, however, a steady stream of business leaders, particularly from the tech industry, has rallied behind Trump, with many visiting Mar-a-Lago to show support and cultivate ties.
Among them was Bezos, who had clashed with Trump during his first term. Speaking at the DealBook Summit in December, Bezos expressed optimism about a second Trump presidency, remarking, “What I’ve seen so far is he is calmer than he was the first time—more confident, more settled.”
Tim Cook, Sam Altman, and Sergey Brin all praised Trump’s victory and made contributions to his inauguration fund. Cook and Brin secured prime seating on the dais, while Altman, the head of OpenAI, was relegated to the overflow room.
Then there was Musk. The entrepreneur, who spent over a quarter of a billion dollars supporting Trump’s election campaign, was likely to be appointed to a West Wing office overseeing a government-spending task force. Musk sat closest to the president. At a gathering of Trump supporters at the Capital One Arena in Washington on Monday, Musk faced backlash for making hand gestures resembling the Nazi salute.
Also seen in the crowd:
- Shou Chew, TikTok’s CEO, was seated in the back row next to Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence. Joe Rogan sat in front of them.
- Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH, attended with his children, Delphine and Alexandre, as the luxury goods conglomerate aimed to avoid Trump tariffs.
- Dana White, UFC President and new board member at Meta, was also seated in a prime location.
One notable absence was Peter Thiel, one of Trump’s earliest and most ardent supporters, who hosted a lavish event at his Washington mansion over the weekend.
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