Former U.S. President Donald Trump raised a staggering $239 million for his January 20 inauguration more than double the amount collected for his 2017 swearing-in according to a new Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing released Sunday.
The Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee pulled in donations from a long list of corporate heavyweights and tech elites. Companies like Airbnb, McDonald’s, and Microsoft appeared among the committee’s financial backers, while Amazon, Meta, and JPMorgan Chase each reportedly gave at least $1 million.
Notably, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also contributed $1 million, signaling a significant show of support from Silicon Valley power players, who were highly visible during the ceremony.
The $239 million total dwarfs the $107 million Trump raised for his first inauguration in 2017 and vastly surpasses the $61 million raised by President Joe Biden for his 2021 swearing-in.
While the FEC filing notes that over $6 million in donations were later refunded, the record-breaking figure still represents the largest inauguration fundraising total in U.S. history.
By law, inaugural committees must disclose the details of every donation over $200 and are prohibited from accepting money from foreign nationals.
The January event drew some of the wealthiest names in the world. About a dozen billionaires attended the ceremony, with social media observers noting that their combined net worth could exceed $1 trillion roughly the size of Switzerland’s GDP.
Among the high-profile attendees were Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Apple’s Tim Cook, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, currently the world’s richest man all seated prominently as Trump took the oath of office once more.
