Why business leaders spend lavishly | Real Time Headlines

Top CEOs and their companies pledge millions to donate to president-elect Donald Trumpof the inaugural committee as they try to side with him and make progress before he takes office.

Some planned donation It is said Includes $1 million each Jeff Bezos‘ AmazonOpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Facebook parent company YuanThe leader is Mark Zuckerberg. Others include US$2 million Robin Hood Market US$1 million each for both parties Uber and its CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi.

Ford yes It is said Combine his $1 million donation with the team.

hedge fund manager Ken Griffin He also said he plans to donate $1 million to the tax-exempt inaugural committee, Bloomberg reports. Other reported donations from financial leaders in progress.

With his decisive election victory, Trump vowed to reform U.S. economic policy and bring huge benefits to a few favored industries such as fossil fuels.

At the same time, he conveyed the personal and political value of his in-person meetings and public praise of the CEOs of the world’s largest companies.

“Everyone wants to be my friend!!!” Trump wrote in a post on Thursday truth societya social media app he runs himself technology company.

Many of those executives have traveled or plan to travel to Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Palm Beach resort and the de facto transition headquarters as they seek to gain influence and access to the incoming White House.

To that end, Trump’s inaugural committee provides a “unique opportunity,” Brendan Glavin, research director at political currency nonprofit OpenSecrets, said in an interview.

The inaugural committee is appointed by the president-elect and is responsible for planning and financing much of the pomp and circumstance of the traditional transition of power from one administration to the next.

While the money ultimately benefits a recent political candidate, it doesn’t have the same connotation as a donation to something like a super PAC, which can fund potentially controversial partisan political campaigns.

Unlike direct contributions to a candidate’s campaign, there is no limit on the amount an individual, company or labor group can contribute to an inaugural committee.

Additionally, since Trump has already won the election, a first-time donation from a high-profile executive does not carry the risk of supporting a losing candidate.

“This is really a good opportunity for them to curry favor with the incoming administration,” Glavin said.

While there’s nothing new about corporations and power brokers pouring large sums of money into inaugural committees, experts told CNBC the Trump factor has changed things.

“Everything is more serious now,” Glavin said. “None of these people want to be Trump’s punching bag for four years.”

Trump’s inaugural committee and his transition team did not respond to requests for comment.

Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee took in about $107 million, the most in U.S. history to date. The previous record was set in 2009 during his first inauguration. barack obamaits committee Raised $53 million.

Trump’s second inauguration is expected to break that record, with pledges exceeding a $150 million fundraising goal. ABC News Report.

President Joe BidenIn contrast, the inaugural committee raised nearly $62 million.

“One of the oldest adages in Washington is that if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu, and the price of admission for a seat at the table keeps rising,” said Michael Becker, the firm’s director of research. Reform Advocacy Group.

The increase in funding for Trump’s second inaugural committee comes in part from tech giants, many of which largely did not support his first inauguration.

With the exception of GoDaddy.com founder Robert Parsons, who donated $1 million, few leaders of other major technology companies have donated to GoDaddy.com. Trump 2017 Commission.

Trump has publicly clashed with some of them, including Zuckerberg and BezosHe also owns the Washington Post, which has been a frequent target of the president-elect’s ire.

Not so this time. Industry leaders may rely on their relationship with the White House more than ever as Trump vows to roll back a raft of federal regulations but also continues to accuse Big Tech of stifling competition.

“Actually I’m very optimistic” Bezos says On December 4, in an interview at the New York Times DealBook conference, Trump became president for the second time. “I’m very hopeful. He seems to have a lot of energy in reducing regulations. And my view is, if I can help him do that, I will help him. Because we do have so many in this area. regulatory state.

The comments came in the wake of a scandal at The Washington Post in October, when the newspaper reported Bezos decides Not to publish its editorial board’s endorsement of the Vice President Kamala Harris More than Trump. Bezos is Column The paper defended its decision to no longer support the presidential candidate, but the reversal led to a significant loss of subscribers and prompted many staff members to resign in protest.

Trump’s newfound rapport with the tech community is most evident in his blossoming relationships with the CEOs of Tesla and SpaceX MuskSpent more than $250 million to help Trump get elected.

Musk, the world’s richest man, frequently appeared by Trump’s side before and after his election, and was reportedly involved in all aspects of Trump’s transition planning. He and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy were appointed to lead an advisory group tasked with cutting government costs.

This may allow OpenAI’s Altman (currently working on involved in a breach of contract action Musk brought it to an embarrassing situation.

Altman also heaped praise on Trump earlier this month when OpenAI made its first $1 million donation. “President Trump will lead our country into the era of artificial intelligence, and I am eager to support his efforts to ensure that the United States remains at the forefront,” he said.

Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist at the progressive nonprofit Public Citizen, told CNBC that these figures are “very concerned that Donald Trump may retaliate against them.”

“So they threw money at his feet to curry favor with him,” Holman said.

Four days after the presidential election, Trump announced the formation of the “Trump Vance Inaugural Committee,” a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization. The committee is co-chaired by real estate investor Steve Witkoff and a former Republican senator. Kelly LoefflerGeorgia, where he is also Trump’s pick to lead the Small Business Administration.

Reince Priebus, one of Trump’s first White House chiefs of staff, said in a statement X posts He has been appointed to serve as finance chairman of the committee.

Priebus also shared a screenshot of an invitation listing the names of the other finance chairs. Among them is Republican megadonor Miriam Adelson, who spent US$100 million this year About pro-Trump super PACs and billionaire Trump donors diane hendricks.

The inaugural committee must disclose the names of donors who give $200 or more, but those declarations cannot be filed until 90 days after the inauguration.

If the committee still has a surplus after all the festivities are over, figuring out how much is left can be a challenge.

Trump’s 2017 inauguration was smaller than Obama’s 2009 inauguration, even though Trump raised more than twice as much money as Obama. As a result, Trump’s committee is widely expected to be left with tens of millions of dollars after paying for the ball and hotel.

But many years after the fact happened, Not sure what happened Most of this money.

About a quarter of the money raised, $26 million, was paid to a newly established company The company is run by advisers to first lady Melania Trump.

“We looked at the history of inauguration financing, and it was clear that it came from very large donors, wealthy special interests and corporations, almost all of whom had business to handle from the federal government,” Public Citizen’s Holman said.

He added, “It’s really a cesspool of favor buying.”