Sanders then said that the three wealthiest men in the United States, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg had sat behind the president at his inauguration, adding that their wealth has increased by $233 billion since Trump won the 2024 presidential election.

Now, as Trump returns to the White House, the tech mogul has changed his tune in a shift that could have far-reaching consequences for the businesses attached to his name: Amazon, Bezos’ rocket company Blue Origin and The Washington Post, which Bezos bought in 2013.

Among the guests at Donald Trump's second inauguration in Washington, D.C. today were three billionaire tech CEOs: Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Tesla's Elon Musk, and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg. They were also joined by Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Apple CEO Tim Cook.

The top billionaires of Silicon Valley have gone from supporting Democrats to being all in on Trump. What happened?

Major tech companies like Meta, Apple, Google and TikTok were represented in the front row at Trump's second presidential inauguration.

“The golden age of America begins right now,” Trump proclaimed. For his billionaire backers, it has already begun.

“Big Tech billionaires have a front row seat at Trump’s inauguration. They have even better seats than Trump’s own Cabinet picks. That says it all,” Warren wrote on X.

Democrats are struggling to confront the sheer volume of executive orders, pardons, personnel changes and controversial relationships taking shape in the new administration.

Once upon a time, the ultimate aspiration of the ultra-wealthy was to accumulate enough “F-you money” to operate above societal constraints.

Tech superinvestor Marc Andreessen has been traveling the podcast circuit, sharing his insider take on why his industry has veered sharply to the right of late. Eventually, these interviews, like his one with the New York Times ’ Ross Douthat, wind around to Andreessen’s theory of “the Deal, with a capital D:”

The world’s richest people are done feigning concern for immigrants, LGBTQ Americans, or democracy — they’re ready to cash in with Donald Trump.