Uber and its CEO have donated $1m to Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, becoming a member of a rising checklist of tech firms and executives in search of to foster a good relationship with the incoming administration.
A spokesperson for Uber Technologies confirmed to the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday that each Uber and its CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, every donated $1m to Trump’s fund. Uber didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from the Guardian.
Uber beforehand donated $1m to President Biden’s inauguration in 2021 however Khosrowshahi didn’t donate to that occasion, in line with the Wall Street Journal. The $1m donation to Trump’s fund, the newspaper states, is Khosrowshahi’s largest donation to a politician or inauguration fund.
The donations from Uber and Khosrowshahi add to a rising checklist of tech firms and executives who’ve donated or have mentioned they intend to donate $1m to the president-elect’s inaugural fund.
Last week, Meta confirmed that it had donated $1m to the fund. OpenAI additionally confirmed that its CEO, Sam Altman, was planning to make a $1m private donation to the fund. Amazon can also be getting ready a donation of $1m to Trump’s fund.
Uber and Khosrowshahi should not have the identical traditionally tense relationship with Trump as firms and executives comparable to Mark Zuckerberg, Meta and Jeff Bezos, which is what made these donations significantly vital.
Notably, because the Journal factors out, Uber’s chief authorized officer, Tony West, is the brother-in-law of vice-president and former democratic nominee Kamala Harris. West took a go away of absence to volunteer for Harris’s presidential marketing campaign. He has since returned to his place at Uber.
Donations to inaugural committees are usually not unusual amongst giant companies aiming to ascertain higher relationships with new administrations.
Amazon contributed $57,746 to Trump’s first inaugural fund in 2017, in line with OpenSecrets. Other firms additionally made donations, together with Google, which donated $285,000, and Microsoft, which donated $500,000. Meta confirmed to the Guardian that it didn’t make any contributions that 12 months.
The donations from tech firms and tech executives within the final month come because the incoming administration is reportedly providing perks to the highest donors to the president-elect’s inaugural fund. It’s additionally on the similar time that Trump has been assembly and eating with a number of tech executives since successful the election.
In the final month or so, Trump has dined at his Mar-a-Lago property with Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg; Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook; and Google’s Sundar Pichai and Sergey Brin; Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is slated to dine with Trump this week.
