THE WASHINGTON POST: Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg to attend Donald Trump’s inauguration

Tech moguls Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are planning to attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday, underscoring the deepening ties between prominent tech leaders and the incoming administration after years of acrimony.

The billionaire trio is expected to sit together on the dais, a prominent location alongside former presidents, Trump’s family, Cabinet picks and lawmakers, according to a Trump official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the unannounced plans. (Bezos, the founder of Amazon, owns The Washington Post.)

The tech leaders’ participation in the historic occasion comes as some Silicon Valley executives are seeking closer ties to the new administration, after spending much of Trump’s first presidency on the receiving end of his attacks.

Their VIP perch at his swearing-in ceremony highlights the dramatic shift in their relationship with the president-elect after the tech industry spent much of the last eight years playing defence in Washington amid growing criticism of the power of their companies.

Musk, the Tesla CEO who has dubbed himself Trump’s “first buddy,” has played the most visible role of any tech leader in Trump’s campaign and transition, acting at times as an unofficial co-president who joins the president-elect’s meetings and phone calls with foreign leaders, elected officials and industry executives.

Musk, Bezos and Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, have all made pilgrimages to visit Trump at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida; Musk and Zuckerberg were there Friday. Amazon and Meta have each made $1 million donations to Trump’s inaugural fund, and Musk was the largest political donor of the 2024 cycle.

Bezos retired as CEO of Amazon in 2021 to focus on his space exploration company Blue Origin, but he remains chair of the company’s board.

Amazon removed references to diversity from its website and cut commitments to supporting Black and transgender people from its public policy positions, The Post reported last week, a move some employees saw as an attempt to curry favor with Trump and advisers such as Musk who have vocally opposed corporate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.

Bezos also sparked controversy when he decided The Post would no longer endorse presidential candidates, ending a long-standing practice a month before the presidential election. The paper more recently declined to publish a cartoon satirising the tech giants, including Bezos, by showing them bowing down to Trump, prompting cartoonist Ann Telnaes to quit in protest. Opinions editor David Shipley wrote a memo to staff noting that he did not consult with Bezos when making that decision.

Zuckerberg has also made sweeping changes to Meta ahead of Trump’s Oval Office return, including dismantling the company’s fact-checking program, scrapping its employee DEI programs and reversing content policies aimed at protecting vulnerable groups from hateful online speech.

Meta spokesman Andy Stone declined to comment. Musk and representatives for Amazon and Bezos did not immediately respond to a request for comment. NBC News first reported the tech executives’ attendance plans.

Caroline O’Donovan contributed to this report.

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