A who’s who of the world’s wealthiest people surrounded President Donald Trump as he took the oath of office – gathering a combined net worth exceeding US$1.3 trillion for the occasion.
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Seated prominently behind the Trump family for Monday’s swearing-in were the top three individuals on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg. Also spotted inside the Capitol Rotunda for the inaugural ceremony were LVMH Chief Executive Officer and France’s richest man, Bernard Arnault, Alphabet Inc. co-founder Sergey Brin and Las Vegas Sands Corp. majority owner Miriam Adelson.
In a telling gesture, the tech billionaires were seated in front of Trump’s nominated Cabinet. Defence Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth had to crane past Musk and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai to watch the proceedings.
“It’s important to bring some of the brightest minds in the world together,” Donald Trump Jnr said when asked after the ceremony about the presence of tech billionaires.
The phalanx of deep-pocketed attendees highlighted a surge in support for Trump from Silicon Valley, Wall Street and other industries following his comeback victory in November’s election. At stake for many of their businesses is the promise of relief from US regulations and the hope of a boost to their corporate bottom lines from Trump’s pledge to spur investment. Others are hoping to avoid the worst of the fallout from tariffs that the president has vowed to use as an instrument of economic policy.
Embracing Trump marks a turnabout for some business leaders, who had recoiled from him four years ago following the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by hundreds of his supporters. Yet, Trump’s pariah status faded as odds increased toward his election on a business-friendly message that included an extension of tax cuts enacted in 2017 during his first term in office.
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