Google CEO Sundar Pichai (C, L) and SpaceX, X and Tesla CEO Elon Musk watch during the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States in the Rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. Trump takes office for his second non-consecutive term as the 47th president of the United States. – US tech multibillionaires – including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos – were given prime positions at Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday, January 20, in an unprecedented demonstration of their power and influence. (Photo by Julia Demaree Nikhinson / POOL / Agence France-Presse)
WASHINGTON, United States — US tech multibillionaires – including Elon Muskgvg777, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos – were given prime positions at Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday, January 20, in an unprecedented demonstration of their power and influence.
Musk, Bezos, and Zuckerberg are the world’s three richest people, and in addition to Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who also attended, their combined fortune sits at just above one trillion dollars, according to Forbes.
The tech billionaires have spent the weeks since the election courting favor with Trump, marking a dramatic shift from Silicon Valley’s more hostile response to his first term four years ago.
Article continues after this advertisementREAD: Trump vows new US ‘golden age’ as second term begins
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TikTok CEO Shou Chew sat in the back row of the stage, even as his platform’s future remains uncertain.
Article continues after this advertisementTikTok on Sunday credited Trump for promising an executive order to save the app from an American ban, even though its fate in the United States remains unclear while under Chinese company ByteDance’s ownership, in defiance of a US law.
Article continues after this advertisementDespite highly limited seating after the ceremony was moved indoors due to bad weather, Meta CEO Zuckerberg attended with his wife Priscilla Chan, while Amazon executive chairman Bezos was accompanied by his fiancee, Lauren Sanchez.
Article continues after this advertisement“They have even better seats than Trump’s own cabinet picks. That says it all,” said US Senator Elizabeth Warren in a social media post.
Apple CEO Tim Cook greets former US President Barack Obama after the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States in the Rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. – US tech multibillionaires – including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos – were given prime positions at Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday, January 20, in an unprecedented demonstration of their power and influence.(Photo by Julia Demaree Nikhinson / POOL / Agence France-Presse)The prominent positions of the tech billionaires on the inauguration stage were particularly notable for Zuckerberg, whom Trump had threatened with life imprisonment just months ago.
Article continues after this advertisementThe Meta chief recently made headlines by brashly aligning his company’s policies with Trump’s worldview, notably by eliminating fact-checking in the United States and relaxing hate speech restrictions on Facebook and Instagram.
Preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed the trade-in-goods balance — the difference between exports and imports — amounted to a $4.38 billion deficit in August, narrowing from the $4.89-billion shortfall recorded in the previous month. However, this was still higher compared to the $4.11 deficit in August 2023.
In an interview with Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon on Tuesday, DTI Undersecretary Allan Gepty said the market share of fresh bananas in South Korea dropped to 65 percent in 2023 from a high of 98 percent in 2013.
READ: Buckle up, Trump is back
Musk has shown the strongest support for Trump, spending $277 million to help him and other Republicans win November’s election while transforming his X platform into an amplifier for pro-Trump voices.
Bezos, like Zuckerberg and his peers, has visited Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida leading up to the inauguration, with favorable treatment, government contracts, and reduced regulatory scrutiny for Amazon in the balance.
As owner of The Washington Post, Bezos sparked controversy by blocking the newspaper’s planned endorsement of Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris for the 2024 presidential election, triggering newsroom protests and subscriber cancellations.
Musk has been named a leader of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency to advise the White House on cutbacks to public spending and has spent much of the past two months at Mar-a-Lago.
US President Donald Trump reviews the troops during his Inauguration ceremony in Emancipation Hall of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. – US tech multibillionaires – including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos – were given prime positions at Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday, January 20, in an unprecedented demonstration of their power and influence.(Photo by Greg Nash / POOL / Agence France-Presse) Tech billionaires: ‘Paid access’While Musk’s SpaceX is already a major government contractor, Amazon’s AWS cloud computing division and Google also count the US government among their biggest clients.
Google, Meta, Apple, and Amazon are also fighting landmark antitrust lawsuits from the US government that could force their breakup.
royal bet slot“These are very wealthy people who have basically paid for access, which is something that they would do for any upcoming administration even if we all recognize Trump is very transactional,” said Andrew Selepak, media professor at the University of Florida.
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“They’re making sure it’s very clear that their faces, names, and especially their money, is heregvg777,” he added.
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