Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg Among Several Tech CEOs Filling VIP Seats at Trump's Inauguration

The billionaires were joined by other prominent members of the tech community seated on the dais at the U.S. Capitol ceremony

Anna Lazarus Caplan

20 January 2025 at 1:23 pm·2-min read

The inauguration of President Donald Trump had a billionaires’ row in attendance.

Among the tech CEOs in attendance at the ceremony inside the Capitol Rotunda on Monday, Jan. 20 were Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos.

The VIPs, seated side-by-side on the dais, were among those who have made significant contributions to the Trump-J.D. Vance inaugural fund.

Bezos was accompanied onstage by fiancée Lauren Sánchez, who broke with event dress protocol by wearing a low-cut white suit that showed her bra, while Zuckerberg's wife, Priscilla Chan, was by his side.

Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai was also onstage in the rotunda, as was Apple's Tim Cook.

Google and Cook, personally, each donated $1 million to the inauguration fund for Trump.

Musk, meanwhile, who donated nearly $300 million to Trump's reelection effort, became a central part of Trump’s 2024 campaign and presidential transition, and will assume the reins of the proposed Department of Government Efficiency in the new administration.

Zuckerberg recently rolled back fact-checking on Meta platforms and made controversial changes to the company’s hateful conduct policy after meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago.

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Other tech-world dignitaries in attendance included TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chou, Sam Altman of OpenAI and Dara Khosrowshahi of Uber.

Delphine Arnault, CEO of Christian Dior, and Miriam Adelson, the widow of Sheldon Adelson, the former CEO and chairman of casino company Las Vegas Sands, were also seated on the stage.

On Sunday, TikTok restored service after less than 24 hours after a blackout.

"We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive," the statement said, referring to Trump's recent comments about not letting "TikTok stay dark."

Read the original article on People

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