President Joe Biden’s pointed warning about the U.S. becoming an “ oligarchy ” of tech billionaires will be illustrated at Donald Trump’s inauguration, when the world’s three richest men will sit on the dais as Trump is sworn in for a second term.
Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, took an unprecedented, hands-on role in the final stretch of Trump’s campaign, spending some $200 million through a super PAC. Musk has a new role reshaping government in the upcoming administration and will be joined on the dais by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Both men’s companies have enormous contracts with the federal government.
Rounding out the trio is Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who recently changed his company’s priorities to align with Trump’s and has cozied up to the president-elect less than six months after Trump threatened to imprison him.
The three men are worth nearly $1 trillion combined and will be joined at the inauguration by the chief executive officers of OpenAI and the social media platform TikTok, which is scheduled to be shut down in the U.S. over the weekend under a new law that Trump opposes.
Meta, Amazon and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund.
The mega-rich have long had a prominent role in national politics, and several billionaires helped bankroll the campaign of Trump’s Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. Biden recently gave the presidential medal of freedom to George Soros, a billionaire donor to liberal causes.
But the inaugural display highlights the unusually direct role billionaires have in the incoming administration. Biden’s use of the word “oligarchy” was no accident — it’s a direct reference to the form of government in Russia, whose leader Trump has long spoken warmly about. Russian President Vladimir Putin preserves the uber-rich’s wealth and keeps them under control with threats.
Here’s a look at the dynamics of the incoming administration and the mega-rich:
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