Booz Allen Hamilton share: plunge after figures shock
My dears, $BAH (+0,09%) have not yet been able to profit as one of the donors.
I am missing from the donor list $TSLA (+4,57%) .
Google, Apple, Microsoft: they're all opening their pockets for Trump's ceremonial hall. Naturally, they are hoping for something in return
The excavators are already rolling: on Monday, demolition work began on the East Wing of the White House to make way for a gigantic ballroom. The 8360 square meter showpiece will seat up to 1000 guests in the future - and will be completely privately financed. After much procrastination, the White House has published the list of donors. In addition to the entire squad of tech giants, it also includes half the crypto world as well as arms companies and, of course, Peter Thiel's Palantir.
Tech companies as major sponsors
Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft - the world's most powerful technology companies are among the list of sponsors. Alphabet, Google's parent company, is contributing 22 million dollars alone - around seven percent of the estimated total costs, as reported by CNBC. However, this amount comes from a settlement payment: Trump had sued YouTube after the platform blocked his account following the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021.
The crypto industry has also been generous: Coinbase, Ripple, Tether America and the Winklevoss twins Cameron and Tyler are among the sponsors of the project.
Change in Silicon Valley
While Silicon Valley was still distant during Trump's first term in office in 2016, it is now demonstratively close. Meta, for example, did not donate a cent for the inauguration - this time it was one million dollars. Amazon increased its contributions from 58,000 to one million dollars.
The donors are
Altria Group Inc.
Amazon
Apple
Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.
Caterpillar Inc.
Coinbase
Comcast Corporation
J. Pepe and Emilia Fanjul
Hard Rock International
Google Inc.
HP Inc.
Lockheed Martin
Meta Platforms
Micron Technology
Microsoft
NextEra Energy Inc.
Palantir Technologies Inc.
Ripple
Reynolds American
T-Mobile
Tether America
Union Pacific Railroad
Adelson Family Foundation
Stefan E. Brodie
Betty Wold Johnson Foundation
Charles and Marissa Cascarilla
Edward and Shari Glazer
Harold Hamm
Benjamin Leon Jr.
The Lutnick Family
The Laura & Isaac Perlmutter Foundation
Stephen A. Schwarzmann
Konstantin Sokolov
Kelly Loeffler and Jeff Sprecher
Paolo Tiramani
Cameron Winklevoss
Tyler Winklevoss
The reasons for this change of heart are obvious: many tech giants are under pressure from antitrust law. However, Trump's administration is pursuing a much less aggressive competition policy than the Biden administration. Under Trump, the FTC has already announced that it will look less closely.
Trump: "I'll take it"
Critics see the fundraiser as a clear case of "pay-to-play", buying access to power, according to the BBC. "I see this huge ballroom as an ethical disaster," says Richard Painter, former White House ethics adviser under President George W. Bush. "These corporations all want something from the government."
Potential major donors were already invited to a fundraising gala dinner at the White House in mid-October - including representatives from Microsoft, Amazon and Google. According to leaked documents, donors are to receive "recognition", possibly in the form of engraved names in the building. Trump himself joked at the event that some guests had asked whether 25 million dollars would be an appropriate donation. His answer: "I'll take it."
Political calculation
The White House rejects all accusations: the ballroom will also serve future governments and taxpayers will not pay a cent. In fact, the government plans to handle the donations through the Trust for the National Mall, a non-profit organization that works with the National Park Service.
There will be little legal proof of wrongdoing. "You can't prove quid pro quo," Painter says. "But the Trump administration is clearly testing boundaries here."
The construction costs for the State Hall have already risen from the original 200 to 300 million dollars. The White House will announce later how much Trump himself will contribute. (pez, 24.10.2025)
