EXCLUSIVE — Microsoft is donating $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, matching gifts from Google, Amazon, Meta, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed.
The $1 million donation to Trump’s inauguration, which has not been reported, is double that of the company’s giving of $500,000 each to Trump’s 2017 committee and President Joe Biden’s in 2021. It is emblematic of a sweeping effort by the tech sector to get in the good graces of Trump, who, since his victory in the 2024 election, has dined with tech CEOs at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
The check from Microsoft, like others that exceed $200, will be made public in Federal Election Commission filings 90 days after the inaugural ceremony on Jan. 20. Trump’s committee for the festivities has raised a staggering $170 million, though it is no longer selling tickets for contributors to attend certain private events in Washington and the swearing-in, according to a New York Times report.
Donors who gave $1 million or more were supposed to be entitled to tickets to the swearing-in ceremony and dinners, including with Trump and his wife, Melania, and with Vice President-elect J.D. Vance and his wife, Usha.
Microsoft did not comment on what, if any, perks it was receiving in connection to its $1 million donation. At the same time, the company has recently made suggestions to the incoming Trump administration on policy, specifically on artificial intelligence.
In a Friday blog post, Microsoft President Brad Smith described his vision for “The Golden Opportunity for American AI,” offering that the country should focus on funding research and have “a sustained commitment to investments in product development by companies of all sizes.” Altman, the OpenAI CEO and $1 million inaugural fund donor, said in an interview last month that he believes Trump will be “very good” at building AI infrastructure.
In late November 2024, Smith called on Trump to “push harder against nation-state cyberattacks, especially from Russia, China, and Iran.”
“We should not tolerate the level of attacks that we are seeing today,” Smith said.
Microsoft, along with other tech companies, faces other simmering pressures in Washington. Following the presidential election, the Federal Trade Commission launched a sweeping investigation into whether Microsoft violated antitrust law over its business practices.
Microsoft’s $1 million donation is still less than its $2 million giving to then-President Barack Obama’s 2013 inaugural fund, according to federal records. During Trump’s first inauguration, AT&T was the largest corporate donor with $2 million in transfers.
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An AT&T spokesperson confirmed to the Washington Examiner that it gave to the 2025 fund but declined to say how much.
“AT&T is contributing to the 2025 inaugural celebration as we have done for every inauguration for more than three decades regardless of which party won the White House,” the spokesperson said. “We invest and prepare our network extensively for events like these. All such contributions are made public.”