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The list includes more than a dozen nominees to the administration, a poultry giant and embattled crypto companies.
By Clara Ence Morse,
Luis Melgar and
Updated May 9, 2025
President Donald Trump raised a record $239 million for his 2025 inauguration celebrations, propelled by contributions from corporations and ultra-wealthy individuals — including more than a dozen people Trump has nominated to a variety of roles in his administration.
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Inaugural celebrations have become an opportunity for companies and wealthy individuals to support parties orpresidents-elect and to seek to curry favor with incoming administrations. In the most recent inauguration, Trump hauled in more than double the record he set in 2017.
Donors to his inaugural committee included picks for ambassadorships, members of Trump’s Cabinet and firms engaged in actionswith federal agencies or those looking for favorable regulatory decisions, according to a Washington Post analysis ofa filing the inaugural committee made to the Federal Election Commission on Sunday.Some companies have sought to influence the new administration’s policies on trade, taxes and government spending.
Tech and crypto companies also played a prominent role in Trump’s inauguration, contributing tens of millions of dollars to the committee after years of regulatory challenges during the Biden administration and Trump’s first term.
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The committee’s FEC filing did not include spending details, but funds raised by an inaugural committee are traditionally used to pay for opening ceremonies, the parade, galas and balls. This year, the committee had to scale back many of the festivities because of freezing temperatures, moving the swearing-in indoors from outside of the Capitol and canceling the traditional parade. The committee has broad discretion over how it repurposes the leftover funds, which can be donated to a presidential library or events like the White House Easter Egg Roll.
Some individuals and companies make a habit of giving to presidential inaugural funds. Over a dozen donors who gave at least $1 million to Trump also contributed to Biden’s inaugural fund in 2021, including Google, Comcast and General Motors.
Donors who gave more than $1 million
The top three individual donors to Trump’s inaugural committee also were nominated for political appointments in his administration, including two ambassadorships. In total, 10 companies and four individuals gave more than $1 million to the committee. Top donors included a poultry company, prominent firms and the billionaire businessman Trump tapped to lead the NASA.
Individuals
1
Warren Stephens
Ambassador to United Kingdom nominee
Donation: $4M
0
Top donation: $5M
The Arkansas investment banker is a longtime GOP donor.
2
Jared Isaacman
NASA administrator nominee
$2M
0
$5M
The billionaire businessman has privately flown to space twice with Elon Musk’s company SpaceX.
3
Melissa Argyros
Ambassador to Latvia nominee
$2M
0
$5M
Argyros is a California-based real estate investor.
4
Anthony Pratt
Australian billionaire
$1.1M
0
$5M
The chairman of Pratt Industries and Visy, a packaging and paper company, is a member of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club.
Organizations
1
Pilgrim’s Pride
Poultry company
Donation: $5M
0
Top donation: $5M
The subsidiary of Brazilian meat company JBS could benefit from a recent Trump administration move to relax regulation on poultry processing. The company on Jan. 27 agreed to pay a $41 million fine in an antitrust case that alleged it artifically inflated its stock price, but the company denied the claims and did not admit wrongdoing.
2
Ripple Labs
Cryptocurrency firm
$4.9M
0
$5M
In March, the company’s CEO announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission would drop its long-running litigation over whether its cryptocurrency is a security.
3
Chevron
Oil and gas company
$2M
0
$5M
The company did not contribute to Biden’s inauguration, after he banned donations from the fossil fuel industry.
4
Robinhood Markets
Financial technology company
$2M
0
$5M
Robinhood said in February that the SEC closed a probe into its cryptocurrency business.
5
Tang Family Trust
$2M
0
$5M
It was not immediately clear with whom this trust was affiliated, and The Post did not receive a response to attempts to contact the trust.
6
Vapor Technology Association
Vape industry trade group
$1.3M
0
$5M
Trump made a campaign promise to “save Vaping,” as the Food and Drug Administration in recent years has moved to regulate flavored electronic cigarettes.
7
Cantor Fitzgerald
Financial services firm
$1M
0
$5M
Howard Lutnick served as chairman and CEO of the bank until he was confirmed as commerce secretary.
8
JPMorgan Chase
Financial services firm
$1M
0
$5M
JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, and CEO Jamie Dimon has warned of the impact of Trump’s tariffs on the U.S. economy.
9
FedEx
Shipping and logistics company
$1M
0
$5M
FedEx Chairman and founder Frederick Smith visited the White House in February.
10
Hims
Telehealth company
$1M
0
$5M
The business is highly dependent on regulations from the FDA, especially for weight loss drugs.
Figures rounded to the nearest hundred thousand
Appointees and nominees
Nominees and their spouses accounted for at least $16 million in contributions. Several of Trump’s political nominees donated $1 million or more to the committee.
Warren Stephens
Ambassador to United Kingdom nominee
Donation: $4M
0
Top donation: $5M
The Arkansas investment banker is a longtime GOP donor.
Jared Isaacman
NASA administrator nominee
$2M
0
$5M
The billionaire businessman has privately flown to space twice with Elon Musk’s company SpaceX.
Melissa Argyros
Ambassador to Latvia nominee
$2M
0
$5M
Argyros is a California-based real estate investor.
Dan Newlin
Ambassador to Colombia nominee
$1M
0
$5M
The Florida lawyer also spent over $11 million on his own ads supporting Trump in the presidential election.
Jeffrey Sprecher
Husband of Trump’s small business administrator
$1M
0
$5M
The businessman is married to Kelly Loeffler, Trump’s appointee to the Small Business Administration.
Keith Rabois
Husband of a Trump State Department nominee
$1M
0
$5M
The former partner at Peter Thiel’s venture capital firm is married to Jacob Helberg, Trump’s nominee for undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy, and the environment.
Ken Howery
Ambassador to Denmark nominee
$1M
0
$5M
Howery, a co-founder of PayPal and friend of Elon Musk, served as ambassador to Sweden in Trump’s first term. Trump wants to buy Greenland, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark.
Linda McMahon
Education secretary
$1M
0
$5M
The former CEO of World Wresting Entertainment also served as the head of the Small Business Adminisration in Trump’s first term.
Tilman Fertitta
Ambassador to Italy nominee
$1M
0
$5M
The billionaire owns the Houston Rockets and is the CEO of Landry’s. Trump called him a “friend” when he visited the White House in 2020.
Figures rounded to the nearest hundred thousand
Another nine nominees or their spouses gave less than $1 million, including former hedge fund executive and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. That list also includes Edward Walsh, a construction executive from Bedminster, New Jersey, and a member of the Trump National Golf Club, who Trump tapped for ambassador to Ireland.
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The crypto donors
Crypto companies and executives played an unprecedented role in funding the inauguration, highlighting the industry’s growing political clout in Washington. Trump has sought to position himself as the most crypto-friendly president to date, signing executive orders promoting digital assets and hosting executives at the White House.
Since Trump took office this year, the Securities and Exchange Commission has dropped or paused more than a dozen cases against crypto firms, including multiple companies that donated to the inauguration.
Individual who gave $1 million
Fred Ehrsam
Coinbase co-founder
Donation: $1M
0
Top donation: $5M
The SEC in February announced it would drop a case against the crypto exchange he co-founded.
Crypto companies that donated at least $1 million
Ripple Labs
Cryptocurrency firm
Donation: $4.9M
0
Top donation: $5M
In March, the company’s CEO announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission would drop its long-running litigation over whether its cryptocurrency is a security.
Robinhood Markets
Financial technology company
$2M
0
$5M
Robinhood said in February that the SEC closed a probe into its cryptocurrency business.
Circle
Cryptocurrency firm
$1M
0
$5M
The company
Coinbase
Cryptocurrency firm
$1M
0
$5M
The SEC in February
Foris DAX
Company doing business as Crypto.com
$1M
0
$5M
The company said in March that the SEC dropped a probe into its business.
Galaxy Digital Services
Cryptocurrency firm
$1M
0
$5M
The company said this month it was moving toward a listing on the Nasdaq following an SEC review.
Ondo Finance
Cryptocurrency firm
$1M
0
$5M
The president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., spoke at the company’s Ondo Summit in February.
Payward
Also known as Kraken, a cryptocurrency exchange
$1M
0
$5M
The SEC announced in March that it would dismiss a lawsuit against Kraken, and co-CEO Arjun Sethi attended Trump’s White House Digital Assets Summit.
Solana Labs
Cryptocurrency firm
$1M
0
$5M
Trump launched his meme coin on the Solana blockchain the weekend ahead of his inauguration.
Figures rounded to the nearest hundred thousand
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The tech world
Top tech executives had prominent seats at Trump’s inauguration ceremony, following an aggressive influence campaign where several executives worked to limit retribution from the president who once vilified them.
Individuals who gave $1 million
Dara Khosrowshahi
Uber CEO
Donation: $1M
0
Top donation: $5M
In a lawsuit this month, the Federal Trade Commission alleged that Uber enrolled people in its Uber One subscription service and then made it difficult for them to cancel. Uber disputes the claims and says it provides clear disclosures.
Sam Altman
CEO of ChatGPT-maker OpenAI
$1M
0
$5M
Altman visited the White House during Trump’s first week in office to announce a multibillion-dollar data center investment during Trump’s first week in office. The project drew criticism from Elon Musk, who co-founded OpenAI with Altman and others but later sued the company. (The Washington Post has a content partnership with OpenAI.)
Tim Cook
Apple CEO
$1M
0
$5M
Cook developed a relationship with Trump during his first term. The Trump administration recently made tariff exemptions for smartphones after Cook’s calls with administration officials.
Alexander C. Karp
Co-founder and CEO of Palantir Technologies
$1M
0
$5M
His data-mining firm secured government contracts during Trump’s presidency, including with ICE and the Pentagon.
Tech companies that donated $1 million
Adobe
Software company
Donation: $1M
0
Top donation: $5M
The FTC has
Amazon
Online retail company
$1M
0
$5M
Amazon faces an FTC antitrust lawsuit, which the company has described as “wrong on the facts and the law.” Its cloud business contracts with government agencies. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
Broadcom
Chip and computer infrastructure company
$1M
0
$5M
The company tangled with Trump in his first term, when he blocked its acquisition of Qualcomm because of national security concerns.
C3 AI
AI company
$1M
0
$5M
The company contracts with federal agencies, including the Pentagon.
Citrix Systems
Enterprise technology company
$1M
0
$5M
Tom Krause, the CEO of Citrix parent Cloud Software Group, is an ally of Elon Musk and oversees Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service.
Coupang
E-commerce company
$1M
0
$5M
The company is known as the “Amazon of South Korea” and has offices in Seattle.
Search and AI company
$1M
0
$5M
Judges have ruled in two federal antitrust cases that the company has illegal monopolies, and the DOJ is arguing that the company should be forced to sell Chrome, its web browser. Google disputes the decisions and has said it will appeal.
Meta
Social networking company
$1M
0
$5M
The FTC has alleged that the company wields an illegal monopoly among communication apps that connect friends and family. Company executives argued in a trial this month that it faces broader competition.
Micron Technology
Computer memory and storage company
$1M
0
$5M
The Biden administration awarded the company more than $6 billion under the the Chips and Science Act, a bipartisan law that Trump wants to scrap.
Nvidia
Chipmaker
$1M
0
$5M
The company is embroiled in Trump’s trade war, contending with export controls and expected tariffs on semiconductors.
Perplexity AI
AI company
$1M
0
$5M
The company proposed a plan to rebuild TikTok’s algorithm as Trump tried to avert a ban of the video-sharing app.
Second Front Systems
National security software company
$1M
0
$5M
The company advertises its services for government agencies, including contracts with the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit.
Uber
Rideshare company
$1M
0
$5M
The company has faced federal scrutiny over its data security practices, and the FTC alleged that Uber made it difficult for customers to cancel subscriptions in an April lawsuit. Uber disputes the allegations.
Figures rounded to the nearest hundred thousand
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Explore the full list of donors who gave at least $1 million to the inaugural committee below. Companies from many sectors — including banking, pharmaceuticals, retail and automotive — are represented on the list. Many of these companies have sought to influence the new administration’s policies on trade, taxes and government spending. That sway is being tested as Trump unleashes tariffs that are reshaping the global economy.
Christine T. Nguyen contributed to this report.
Note to readers
This article was updated to reflect amended filings that said donations by Wipfli were made by Alexander C. Karp, co-founder and chief executive of Palantir Technologies, and money given by LMC HQ came from Lockheed Martin. (May 9, 2025) Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly identified the company Merck Sharp and Dohme as the Merck Sharp & Dohme Federal Credit Union.1350 Comments
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Clara Ence MorseClara Ence Morse is a political data reporter at The Washington Post. She joined The Post as the Investigative Reporting Workshop intern with the Data team, and previously served as the editor in chief of the Columbia Daily Spectator. She lives in Washington, D.C.@ccemorseFollow
Cat ZakrzewskiCat Zakrzewski is a White House reporter for The Washington Post. Send her secure tips on Signal at cqz.17. She previously covered tech policy and was the founding anchor of The Technology 202 newsletter. Before joining The Post in 2018, she was a venture capital reporter for the Wall Street Journal. @Cat_ZakrzewskiFollow
Aaron SchafferAaron Schaffer is a researcher on The Post’s News Research team.@aaronjschafferFollow
Luis MelgarLuis Melgar is a graphics reporter at The Washington Post. Before joining The Post in 2022, he was a graphics developer at the Urban Institute.Follow
Nick MourtoupalasNick Mourtoupalas is a graphics reporter focusing on politics at The Washington Post. He previously worked at The Kiplinger Letter covering economics.Follow
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