Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, and oh-so-”masculine” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg will be very special guests at Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
An official involved with the event planning confirmed to NBC News that three of the United States’ wealthiest men will be seated together on the platform as the convicted felon takes the oath of office. The tech bros will be cozied up right next to Trump’s Cabinet nominees and other prominent elected officials.
Given the billionaire trio’s seven-figure donations to the inaugural fund, this naked display of favoritism on Trump’s big day doesn’t come as a surprise.
As Daily Kos previously reported, a bunch of tech moguls have lined up to kiss Trump’s ring, offering sizable donations ahead of his second term.
But as the three stooges kiss up to the incoming president and throw money at his feet, Musk, Zuckerberg, and Bezos also share something else in common: personal interests to protect.
Online shopping mogul Bezos has a large stake in defense contracts with his aerospace company Blue Origin—and he also has some trouble ahead with the Federal Trade Commission, which filed an antitrust lawsuit against the Amazon founder in 2023.
The case made headlines last year when the government agency accused Bezos of concealing evidence by using the disappearing messaging service Signal amid the ongoing lawsuit. Despite multiple attempts by Amazon to get the lawsuit thrown out, the hearing is set to go ahead in October 2026.
And while Bezos butted heads with Trump in the past, it’s clear he knows having Trump on his side this time around can only benefit him.
As for Musk, the wealthiest man in the world has multiple investments hinging on his blossoming relationship with Trump—not to mention that Trump’s win alone boosted Musk’s (and other billionaires’) wealth.
Of course, Musk already has his own Trump-backed vanity project to keep him and fellow tech bro billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy busy during the next four years: the very unofficial Department of Government Efficiency, which claims it will cut spending by $2 trillion.
Zuckerberg also has some concerns about his empire that having a friendship with Trump might alleviate. The Meta owner is set to go to trial with the FTC in April over an antitrust lawsuit regarding his purchase of Instagram and WhatsApp. Zuckerberg allegedly purchased the apps at an exorbitant price in order to push out any possible competitors.
The social media scion seems to be playing up his MAGA support in light of the new administration. As previously reported, Zuckerberg has called off the use of independent fact-checkers on Facebook, altered the hateful conduct policy to allow harassment of women and the LGBTQ+ community, announced that content moderation efforts will move to the famously unbiased Texas, and is dismantling his company’s DEI initiatives.
To really drive home his ass-kissing, Zuck is also reportedly cohosting a black-tie Inauguration Day reception for his new bestie.
Billionaire oligarchs aside, Trump appears to be pulling out all the stops for his big day, booking country music singer Carrie Underwood to sing “America the Beautiful” as well. But given the incoming president’s obsession with crowd sizes and big introductions, Trump wasn’t satisfied with a simple inauguration ceremony.
The Republican will also be hosting three inauguration balls following the morning ceremony: the Commander in Chief Ball, the Liberty Inaugural Ball, and the Starlight Ball.
Trump will also throw a so-called Victory Rally in D.C.’s Capital One Arena the night before.
Given the millions of dollars that billionaires have lavished on his inaugural fund, the guy can certainly afford to throw multiple ego-stroking celebrations.
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