Tech titans including Zuckerberg, Bezos line up to donate $1 million each to Trump inauguration fund

Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News on Dec 13, 2024

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

Super-wealthy tech titans are lining up to make outsized donations to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration fund.

Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Sam Altman of Open AI are the latest moguls to each pony up identical $1 million gifts to the fund bankrolling the glitzy Jan. 20 return to power for Trump.

Amazon will also stream the event on its Prime Video platform, a freebie valued at another $1 million.

The flood of cash comes as the billionaires hope to improve their up-and-down relationship with Trump, who makes little secret of his plan to play favorites with companies and individuals perceived as supporters of him and his MAGA agenda.

Trump has regularly trashed both Zuckerberg and Bezos in the past, but the moguls have worked hard to make peace with him.

Zuckerberg has already journeyed to Mar-a-Lago to meet with Trump over the Thanksgiving holiday while Bezos recently told a conference that he is “optimistic” about the new administration, especially Trump’s stated plans to slash regulations.

Altman said Friday he is forking over his own seven-figure donation in his personal capacity, but admitted he hopes it makes Trump look favorably on requests to prioritize investments in artificial intelligence.

“Trump will lead our country into the age of AI, and I am eager to support his efforts to ensure America stays ahead,” Altman said in a statement.

Trump has forged a very close relationship in recent months with Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla, X and SpaceX who is considered the world’s richest man.

Trump has appointed Musk to a newly created post aimed at cutting government spending and brushed off concerns that Musk could exploit his power to protect his companies’ multibillion-dollar government contracts or influence policy to benefit them or hurt tech rivals.

Despite the potential for conflicts of interest, there is nothing illegal or even improper about the donations. Inaugural committees are required to disclose the source of their fundraising, but not how they spend the money.

Corporations have traditionally made up a large share of donors to presidential inaugurals, with an exception in 2009, when then-President-elect Barack Obama refused to accept corporate donations. He reversed course for his second inaugural in 2013 after he won reelection.

Facebook did not donate to either Joe Biden’s 2021 inaugural or Trump’s 2017 inaugural.

Google donated $285,000 each to Trump’s first inaugural and Biden’s inaugural, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Microsoft gave $1 million to Obama’s second inaugural, but only $500,000 to Trump in 2017 and Biden in 2021.

Amazon had donated roughly $58,000 to Trump’s 2017 inaugural, much lower than the $1 million it now plans to donate. The company also streamed Biden’s inauguration on Prime Video in 2021.

_____