Elon Musk was just the beginning Why the super-rich are wooing Trump with millions in donations
Numerous US companies and tech moguls are announcing donations in the millions for the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump. Behind the supposedly generous gesture, however, lies calculation.
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- Super-rich tech bosses such as Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos are showing their generosity at the inauguration of future US President Donald Trump.
- Companies such as Amazon, Open AI and Meta, among others, agreed to make donations worth millions.
- An expert has now explained why the companies want to "endear" themselves to the new US government.
The race to win the favor of future US President Donald Trump has long since begun. Tesla boss Elon Musk was not the only one to make the Republican his friend by supporting him with millions during the election campaign - and being rewarded with a political post in return. Other companies and the super-rich are also only too keen to attract attention as patrons of the Republican. For example, through generous donations for Trump's inauguration on January 20.
As the US broadcaster CNBC reports, the e-commerce group Amazon, Facebook's parent company Meta and the ChatGPT developer Open AI, among others, want to donate money for Trump's inauguration. There is talk of around one million US dollars each.
According to reports, the car manufacturers Ford, Toyota and General Motor as well as the major banks Goldman Sachs and Bank of America are planning to donate a similar sum. Wall Street mogul and hedge fund manager Ken Griffin is also seeking to get close to Trump. He can get over it financially, as Griffin has a fortune of 46 billion dollars. Thanks to the many donations, there was already 150 million dollars in the pot for the inauguration at the end of December.
Elon Musk as a role model?
However, the donations are only likely to be altruistic acts without any hoped-for added value. Rather, they are likely to be pragmatic acts. Elon Musk's success suggests that this pays off. The billionaire is said to have spent more than 270 million dollars to support Trump's election campaign.
The quid pro quo for the cash injection followed shortly afterwards: the entrepreneur was appointed co-chairman of a so-called efficiency commission by the president-elect, whose remit is to make the future government apparatus more efficient through recommendations and concepts.
Trump states: "Everyone wants to be my friend"
Amazon, Meta and Co. will also be hoping for similar benefits. "It's really a great opportunity for them to endear themselves to the new administration," said Brendan Glavin, research director of the non-profit organization OpenSecrets, in an interview with CNBC. "None of these people want to be Trump's punching bag for four years."
The expressions of sympathy for Trump from super-rich tech moguls have long gone beyond the purely financial sphere. Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, in his role as owner of the Washington Times, prevented an endorsement for Trump rival Kamala Harris before the election.
Meanwhile, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently announced that there would no longer be fact checks on his social media platforms Facebook and Instagram. He also used the announcement to launch a charm offensive towards Trump: "The election seems to be a cultural turning point where freedom of expression comes back to the fore."
Trump is probably rubbing his hands with satisfaction in the background. At least that's what his post on the social network Truth Social on 19 December suggests, in which the US president-elect wrote with a wink: "Everyone wants to be my friend."
