One of the things that made President Donald Trump’s inauguration distinctive was the prominence of Silicon Valley’s elite.
The three richest men in the world were easily identifiable: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos And Mark Zuckerberg. And that’s not to mention some billionaires who are not placed directly in view of the cameras.
When you add up the wealth of billionaire tech founders, millionaire businessmen and wealthy politicians, there was more than $1 trillion — more than a trillion — in the Capitol rotunda Monday morning.
Elon Musk spoke after the ceremony, saying he would plant the American flag on Mars.
The richest of all, topping the Forbes list of billionaires in real time, was Elon Musk.
South African serial entrepreneur makes his money owning electric car company Tesla and space exploration company Space X.
His fortune is $433.9 billion, according to Forbes.
Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos. Photo: Reuters
Next on the rich list is Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who is worth $239.4 billion thanks to his ownership of shares in the company.
Mr Bezos’s involvement with the Washington Post led to speculation that he played a role in the newspaper saying it would not support a candidate in US elections for the first time in 36 years.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, and his wife Priscilla Chan. Photo: Reuters
The third richest on the Forbes list is Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, worth $211.8 billion.
His company has social networks Facebook, Instagram And WhatsApp.
The influence of changing political winds is visible in Meta’s recent decision to cancel fact check.
Bernard Arnault at the inauguration. Photo: Reuters
Although there was no sign of the world’s fourth richest man – Oracle founder Larry Ellison – the fifth-richest man, Bernard Arnault, was there with his family.
French luxury giant LVMH owns brands including Dior, Louis Vuitton, Moët & Chandon and Sephora, with a net worth estimated by Forbes at $181.3 billion.
Miriam Adelson arrives ahead of the 60th presidential inauguration. Photo: AP
Less known to the British public – but still extremely wealthy – is Miriam Adelson, who, along with her family, is ranked the 55th richest in the world by Forbes.
Their net worth of $31.9 billion was raked in through casinos. Her husband, Sheldon Adelson, founded the Las Vegas Sands casino and resort company.
A supporter of the new president, Ms. Adelson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Mr. Trump in 2018.
Rupert Murdoch and his wife Elena Zhukova. Photo: Reuters
At the bottom of the Forbes rich list – in 89th position – is the media mogul. Rupert Murdochvalued at $22.2 billion.
His Fox network is a favorite of the US president, but he made much of his fortune in the UK, where he bought The Times and The Sun newspapers.
In addition to Fox, he owns the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post in the United States.
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If these six people were the only ones there, there would be over $1.12 trillion in the room.
This represents around a third of the UK’s total economic output. The UK’s gross domestic product (GDP) – the standard measure of the value of an economy and everything it produces – stands at $3.73 trillion, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Apple boss Tim Cook was also among the tech billionaires in attendance. Photo: Reuters
Added to this are the billions and millions owned by tech royalty such as Apple founder Tim Cook, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and OpenAI founder Sam Altman.
And none of this is to mention the wealth of the political dynasties present – the Bushes, the Clintons and the Trumps.