Profiteers or convinced, they will all be present at the inauguration of Donald Trump this Monday, January 20 alongside the 47th President of the United States. Liberation is based on the list published by the American media Forbes to present the 22 billionaires who will attend the inauguration ceremony of the ultraliberal and xenophobic president.
Donald Trump
Let's start with the first interested party. The future 47th President of the United States is himself a billionaire and an heir-in-chief. According to the latest estimates, Donald Trump, 78, is currently worth around 6.8 billion dollars (around 6.6 billion euros) thanks to his shares in the social network Truth Social and obviously his real estate investments.
The big tech guys
Elon Musk
Trump pales in comparison to the fortune of his new “bro”, the strange and dangerous Elon Musk, 53, who is reportedly sitting on some $429.8 billion. Boss of Tesla and SpaceX, never short of crazy ideas like his famous domestic flamethrowers, the South African is currently the richest person in the world.
Jeff Bezos
Let's stay in tech with Jeff Bezos, 61-year-old Mr. Amazon, who today is worth $235.3 billion, according to estimates from Forbes. The owner of the Washington Post made headlines recently, with journalists from “his” newspaper accusing him of having censored a caricature targeting him. Surprising, as the ideological camp embodied by Trump, Musk and others presents itself as the Avengers of freedom of expression.
Mark Zuckerberg
Zuckerberg, 40, Meta, 212.6 billion. The boss of the social network of boomers – Facebook – and hubcaps – Instagram –, in the process of “muskization”, will be among those convinced during this ceremony. Zuckerberg announced on January 7 that he would end his fact-checking program in the United States, believing that “fact-checkers have been too politically oriented and have done more to reduce trust than to improve it”.
Sam Altman
The head of Open Ai is one of those who decided to pay money personally – a million dollars to be present and co-finance the ceremony – for the inauguration of Donald Trump. Once seen as a box outside the race for money, the company that gave birth to the successful chatbot ChatGPT is now seeking to transform itself into a for-profit organization, according to Reuters. Note that Altman, 39, is very small in the field of very big ones, with 1.1 billion dollars in personal fortune.
Vivek Ramaswamy
At 39 years old, he is, with Sam Altman, the youngest on the list. Vivek Ramaswamy is already worth $1 billion after making his fortune in biotechnology. He founded Roivant Sciences, a multinational listed on the stock exchange since 2021 which links health and new technologies.
Members of the Trump administration
Tilman Fertitta
French NBA fans may know this name: that of the boss of the Houston Rockets franchise. Fertitta, 67, also heads a very American-style restaurant and entertainment chain, Landry's, and is reportedly worth $10.2 billion. Donald Trump chose this reality TV star – a common point between the two – to become the United States ambassador to Italy.
Stephen Feinberg
Another billionaire to whom Trump should give a role in his administration. Stephen Feinberg, 64 years old and $5 billion, is the CEO of an investment company and is expected to get the post of deputy secretary of Defense of the United States.
Warren Stephens
There was one investment banker missing from the list, here he is. In style, Warren Stephens, 67, is rather solid with his 3.3 billion dollars. This late Trumpist was appointed US ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Linda McMahon
The future Secretary of State for Education is known for having been the CEO of WWE, the queen of wrestling. A 76-year-old businesswoman, Linda McMahon was, between 2017 and 2019, minister responsible for Small Businesses during the Republican's first term. Not hesitating to speak of Donald Trump as“a friend”Linda McMahon, who shares a fortune of $3 billion with her husband Vince, is a major donor to the Republican Party, providing financial support for Donald Trump's candidacy in 2016, first for his primary and then in the race for the White House.
Jared Isaacman
We continue the surprising appointments with the future administrator of NASA, Jared Isaacman, entrepreneur who develops private space missions and close to 41-year-old Elon Musk. Isaacman's proximity to Elon Musk has raised some eyebrows in the United States since his appointment. There are particular risks of conflicts of interest, given the financial links between SpaceX and Isaacman's space activities, reports a source in Washington in the specialized media SpaceNews.
-Howard Lutnick
Here is the future Secretary of State for Commerce, if the Senate is willing. Co-chairman of the Trump transition team, Howard Lutnick, 63 years old and $1.5 billion, gets his reputation for helping to revive a major financial services company that lost more than 650 employees after 9/11. September 2001.
The rich, practical and convinced
Miriam Adelson
Former Israeli-American doctor specializing in addictions, Miriam Adelson, 79, became the fifth richest woman in the United States after the death of her husband, casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, notes International mail. Since then, she has become a fervent supporter of Trump, and has donated more than $100 million – more than Elon Musk's $75 million – to the campaign of the future 47th president of the United States. That's a small part of his personal $31.8 billion. According to the New York MagMiriam Adelson “has spent a fortune supporting the far right in the United States and Israel.”
Todd Ricketts
Todd Ricketts, 55, is the co-owner of the Chicago Cubs baseball franchise and a staunch Republican. Todd is above all the son of Joe Ricketts, 83 years old and with both feet in politics since the 80s, in his native Nebraska. Joe Ricketts made his fortune through TD Ameritrade, an American stock brokerage firm. According to the Nebraska Public Mediathe fortune of Todd Ricketts and that of his brothers is closely linked to that of their father and is estimated at 4 billion dollars.
Kelly Loeffler
A 54-year-old former Republican senator from Georgia, she is expected to head the Small Business Administration, an agency supposed to support small private American businesses. Her fortune is instead that of her husband, Jeff Sprecher, founder of International Exchange, and is estimated at $1 billion.
Brian Armstrong
He is the CEO of Coinbase, an online cryptocurrency platform. Brian Armstrong, 41, is particularly known for imposing a strict policy in his office aimed at combating any form of political activism in the office.
Steve Witkoff
The truce in Gaza “would never have happened” without him, Trump said. The future US special envoy to the Middle East is another real estate tycoon and has been doing business with its president since the 1980s. “It must have been three in the morning and I knew who he was. He didn't know who I was.” Witkoff, 67, recounted his first meeting with Trump during his testimony in November 2023 at the US president's civil trial. Before reaching the billion dollars, he had at the time paid for a ham and cheese sandwich to Donald Trump, who had no change on him.
Those who put “maybe” on the invitation
Tim Cook
Among the most thoughtful of the powerful tech CEOs based in Northern California, Apple boss Tim Cook announced that he would contribute $1 million of his personal fortune to co-finance Donald's inauguration ceremony Trump. At 64 years old, Steve Jobs' successor would today be worth more than 2 billion dollars.
Robert «Woody» Johnson
This former American ambassador to the United Kingdom is the owner of the New York Jets, one of the city's American football teams. At 77 years old, his fortune is estimated at $3.3 billion.
Elizabeth et Richard Uihlein
And power couple on the right. Richard Uihlein, 76, heir to the Schlitz brewing fortune, and his wife, Elizabeth, 77, together started a shipping and packaging supplies company called Uline in their basement in 1980. Today, the company achieves an annual turnover estimated at $6.1 billion, which would value the couple at $5.9 billion each, according to estimates from Forbes.
Roger Penske
He is one of the big donors to the Trump campaign. A motor racing legend, he made even more history with his eponymous team which won the Indianapolis 500 around twenty times. Once reluctant to help Donald Trump financially in his political enterprise, Roger Penske, 87 years old and worth $6.4 billion, signs his first check after receiving the Medal of Freedom – a prestigious military decoration awarded by the President of the United States to reward services rendered by civilians to the nation – from… Trump himself.
Timothy Mellon
An heir to an investment banking family. A discreet character, amateur pilot having invested in transport companies, he benefits from his family's fortune, estimated at 14.1 billion dollars. Timothy Mellon, 82, donated $50 million to Donald Trump's campaign. Before that, he had already contributed $20 million to the political action committee of another Republican, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.. On the political side, it is his racist outings that especially attract attention: in a book, he writes that blacks have become “even more belligerent” after the expansion of social programs in the 1960s, note Vanity Fair. According to the Washington PostMellon also donated $50.1 million toward the construction of a wall along the United States-Mexico border.
