Big Tech CEOs Including Bezos and Tim Cook Also "Congratulate Trump on Election Victory"

[US Election 2024]

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, and other major big tech CEOs also sent congratulatory messages to former President Donald Trump, who won the November 5 presidential election.

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

Bezos posted on his social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on the day after the election, November 6 (local time), saying, "I sincerely congratulate Trump, our 45th and 47th president, on his remarkable political comeback and decisive victory." He added, "There is no country with a greater opportunity than this," and wrote, "I hope he will lead and unite the America we all love well."

Bezos, who also owns the influential daily newspaper The Washington Post (WP), is well known for his uncomfortable relationship with former President Trump, having publicly criticized him in the past. However, ahead of this election, he sent a conciliatory message to Trump. When Trump was shot during a campaign rally in July, Bezos praised him for "showing courage," and he also prevented WP, which has openly supported Democratic candidates, from publishing an editorial endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris in this election.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, also called Trump’s election a "decisive victory" and said he "looks forward to working with the Trump administration." Zuckerberg, too, had an uneasy relationship with Trump, having blocked Trump’s Facebook account after the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot led by Trump supporters. However, after the July shooting incident, Zuckerberg attempted to restore relations by having two phone calls with Trump.

CEO Tim Cook congratulated Trump’s victory, saying, "We look forward to working with the president-elect and the new administration so that America can continue to lead the world based on originality, innovation, and creativity." Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI and known as the "father of ChatGPT," wrote that he hopes Trump will achieve "huge" success and emphasized that "it is very important for the United States to maintain leadership in the development of artificial intelligence (AI) with democratic values." Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, posted an image showing Trump securing 277 electoral votes and said, "Congratulations on Trump’s victory, and I look forward to working with the president-elect’s administration to drive innovation that creates new growth and opportunities for the United States and the world."

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Among big tech CEOs, the most prominent figure who openly supported former President Trump and actively campaigned for him was Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla. On that day, he posted an image of himself saluting the American flag with the caption, "It is morning in America again." During this election period, Musk established the super PAC (political action committee) "America PAC" to support Trump’s election and spent at least $132 million (about 184 billion KRW), becoming one of the biggest allies in the business world.