A party at venture capitalist Peter Thiel’s Beaux-Arts mansion. An explosion hosted by the hosts of the popular tech podcast “All-In” in a brand new members-only club. A screening ceremony organized by a bottom-up network of wealthy donors, influenced by Silicon Valley.
Some of the most coveted parties during President-elect Donald J. Trump’s inauguration weekend will be hosted by the Silicon Valley donors who are in power heading into his second administration. The tech industry that has embraced Mr. Trump over the past year is poised to revel in his influence in days of festivities that will make tech donors the stars of the show.
The inaugurations attract deep-pocketed businesses and donors seeking access to a new administration that will oversee their industries and interests. Mr. Trump’s official inaugural committee has broken fundraising records.
Companies invested $1 million or more, including Fortune 500 stalwarts like Ford and General Motors; tech giants like Amazon and Google; cryptocurrency newcomers like Ripple and Robinhood; and traditional GOP megadonors, including coal billionaires Joseph W. Craft III and Kelly Knight Craft, who gave $1 million, according to a person with knowledge of their donation. In exchange, donors received tickets to exclusive official events, including intimate dinners with Mr. Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance, as well as VIP access to Monday’s inauguration ceremony.
But much of the action takes place outside the official program. Across Washington, dozens of big-budget events are planned at the city’s most exclusive hotels and restaurants, on rooftops and ballrooms, on land and aboard yachts, aimed primarily at corporations and wealthy executives who will be in the capital to inaugurate a new term. which they hope will liberate American businesses.
Parties are planned at downtown steakhouses and Georgetown sushi restaurants for clients and associates of lobbying firms with ties to the new Trump administration. Among them are Chartwell Strategy Group, whose partners raised $3 million for the inauguration and represent clients including Hyundai, which donated $1 million through its U.S. subsidiary; and Ballard Partners, the firm of top Trump fundraiser Brian Ballard, which represents companies that have collectively donated millions to the inaugural committee, including Amazon and Ripple.
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