Tim Cook is the latest tech exec to kiss the ring, giving Trump’s inauguration $1 million

Apple CEO Tim Cook, following the example of his peers in the technology industry, has decided to donate one million dollars to Donald Trump’s inauguration fund. That news comes from Axioswhich said Friday that the donation represented the culmination of a “long, collaborative relationship between Trump and Cook” that began years ago and included numerous meetings, including a recent dinner at Mar-a-Lago.

Of course, Cook is not alone. Last month, it was revealed that Meta had donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund, in what was widely seen as an effort by the company’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, to cool relations with Trump (two in particular: had a rocky history) Cook’s donation is obviously somewhat different from that donation because it is made by Cook himself. Meta’s donation allegedly came from the company itself, not the executive behind the company.OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has also donated $1 million to the foundation. and Amazon did the same. In general, it seems like the tech industry has kissed the ring more than usual.

That said, it is common for companies to contribute to a presidential inauguration fund and a several other companies they are lining up to do the same this year, with Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, AT&T, crypto companies Kraken and Coinbase among others.

Cook may be in better shape than most tech executives, The New York Times writes that The Apple CEO enjoyed a warm relationship (with the president) during Mr. Trump’s first term, and that Cook’s standing with the president was better than other rivals.

Donations for the inauguration of the President widely viewed as a favor to incoming presidential administrations. Although the actual presidential inauguration, the part of the ceremony where the president is sworn in, is paid for with public funds, many of the festivities that follow that initial ceremony are fueled by A variety of people and organizations can donate to the Presidential Inaugural Committee, but more often than not, the largest donations come from corporations, lobbyists, and political action committees.

Trump’s recent inauguration was considered the most expensive in history as a result of his inaugural committee meeting a whopping $107 million. For comparison, note that Obama’s inauguration in 2013 collected about 43 million dollars, while his 2009 inauguration raised $55 million.

The companies that were the biggest costs Trump’s 2016 inauguration included Lockheed Martin and Boeing, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, as well as Dow Chemical, Pfizer, Microsoft, Google and a host of other companies. private prison companies. The largest contributor was AT&T, with a donation of nearly $2 million.