Trump ‘won fair and square’: Biz leaders from Elon Musk to Mark Cuban and Mark Zuckerberg react to election result
The business world was divided in the run-up to the election.
Top business leaders, investors, and philanthropists have been reacting to Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election.
Throughout the campaign, Silicon Valley has been divided on which candidate to back.
Although Silicon Valley has historically leaned left, some of tech’s biggest names, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and venture capitalist David Sacks, veered right this election season.
Still, 875 venture capitalists pledged to vote and donate to Harris through an effort called VCsForKamala. A B-17 analysis of publicly available FEC data revealed that VCs favored Democrats overall.
Here is what some of the wealthiest and most influential business figures have to say about the election outcome.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk has been one of Trump’s most vociferous supporters this election.
Musk was quick to celebrate Trump’s victory, even before the election was called in the former president’s favor.
In an X post on Wednesday, Musk said Trump had been given a “crystal clear mandate for change.”
The people of America gave @realDonaldTrump a crystal clear mandate for change tonight
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 6, 2024
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO had plenty at stake in this election. Musk, who is the world’s richest person, has donated at least $119 million to a super PAC supporting Trump.
The billionaire tech mogul also launched a $1 million giveaway for signers of a conservative-leaning petition supporting the First and Second Amendments.
Musk, who rallied with Trump in Pennsylvania, has previously posted that the election could determine “the fate of Western civilization.”
Musk will likely benefit from a Trump victory, from lower tax rates to relaxed enforcement of some regulations. He is likely to play a role in Trump’s second administration, given their mutual interest in having Musk lead a government efficiency commission.
Mark Cuban
In October, Mark Cuban said that Trump “was a lousy president before” and “he’ll be a worse president this time.”
The former principal owner of the Dallas Mavericks, and “Shark Tank” star Mark Cuban posted about a Trump victory before the election was officially called.
“You won fair and square,” Cuban wrote on X on Wednesday morning.
Congrats @realDonaldTrump. You won fair and square.
Congrats to @elonmusk as well. #Godspeed
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) November 6, 2024
Cuban’s tone online changed as the night wore on — shortly before 7 p.m., he posted on X that he Facetimed students waiting in long lines at the University of North Carolina Charlotte.
The billionaire investor initially endorsed President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, but shifted his support to Harris after she became the Democratic nominee.
Cuban was part of the Business Leaders for Harris and VCsForKamala efforts and signed the letter from nearly 90 CEOs endorsing her bid for the White House.
As the race picked up, Cuban started to hit the campaign trail with Harris, appearing at rallies in swing states like Arizona, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
David Sacks
David Sacks endorsed Trump in June.
On X, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist and donor said of the election: “Nixon ’68 was The Greatest Comeback — until tonight.”
As Trump inched closer to victory, Sacks was vocal on social media.
“Stop denying the election and call it already,” he posted on X at 1:07 a.m. Eastern, four hours before CNN called the race for Trump.
Sacks endorsed Trump in June, writing on X that Trump would be better for the economy because the Biden administration contributed to heightened inflation and slowed growth. He further backed Trump’s foreign policy efforts and border policies. Sacks hosted a San Francisco fundraiser for Trump that raised $12 million and remained active on social media to support Trump’s reelection.
“Four years ago, Kamala Harris & the Democrats came into power promising a ‘return to normalcy,'” Sacks posted on X on Tuesday afternoon. “What did they give us? Open borders, felons released from jail, runaway spending & inflation, partisan lawfare & censorship, a world on fire. They had their chance — vote for change!”
Anthony Scaramucci
Anthony Scaramucci served as Trump’s White House communications director for 10 days.
Anthony Scaramucci, who founded the investment firm SkyBridge Capital, posted on X to congratulate Trump and Musk.
“Congratulations to @realDonaldTrump and @elonmusk the campaign was incredibly well executed. Excelsior,” he said in a post.
Scaramucci briefly served as Trump’s White House communications director but was dismissed 10 days after his appointment. He supported Joe Biden in 2020 and Harris in 2024. OpenSecrets data shows that Scaramucci made two donations of $3,300 to Harris.
Scaramucci has been active on social media in support of Harris.
Early on Election Day, he posted on X, “If a political candidate wants to declare victory before the polls close, remember they are doing that to damage the country, not to serve it.” He posted on Sunday, “Harris will win.”
Aaron Levie
Box CEO Aaron Levie has described `Harris as pro-business.
Aaron Levie, CEO of cloud company Box, posted on X congratulating Trump before he officially clinched the White House.
“Wild Ride. Congrats to @realDonaldTrump on becoming President again,” Levie said. “What’s great about America is that we’re on a rocket ship right now and can keep accelerating with the right policies and execution.”
Levie has been an outspoken Harris supporter throughout the campaign, frequently calling her pro-business in posts on X and touting her support from the tech sector. He previously told B-17 that the Harris campaign meaningfully engaged the tech sector throughout the election. FEC filings show Levie donated more than $145,000 to the Harris Victory Fund.
In an Election Day post on X, Levie had said that he was confident Harris would win the election.
Andrew Yang
Andrew Yan was a former presidential candidate in 2020.
Andrew Yang, a tech entrepreneur and former presidential candidate, took to X to congratulate Trump.
“Defending democracy means accepting election results that don’t go your way. Congrats to Donald Trump – I hope that he brings people and the country together,” he said in a post.
On Election Day, he urged Americans to vote in multiple Twitter posts, and on November 2 posted a picture of himself hugging the vice president with the caption: “I voted for Kamala Harris.”
He announced his support for Harris in July and, in October, called her the “change” candidate in an appearance on CNN.
Despite his support, Yang openly critiqued the Harris campaign through the very end. In an Election Day post on Twitter, Yang said that Harris should have sat for an interview with Joe Rogan, who eventually endorsed Trump.
Marc Andreessen
Marc Andreessen endorsed Trump in July and donated $2.5 million to a pro-Trump PAC.
Andreessen, cofounder of the VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, posted on X shortly after midnight and before the election was called: “It’s time to build. 🇺🇸” His reaction was a response to Musk, who had posted, “America is a nation of builders. Soon, you will be free to build.”
The New York Times reported that Marc Andreessen, who endorsed Trump in July, gave $2.5 million to the pro-Trump PAC Right for America. Andreessen said on an episode of “The Ben & Marc Show” podcast that his “final straw” was Biden’s plan for taxing unrealized capital gains. Andreessen and Horowitz discussed crypto and AI at a July dinner with Trump.
Andreessen previously backed Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Barack Obama in 2008.
Bill Ackman
Bill Ackman endorsed Trump in mid-July.
The Pershing Square Capital Management founder said on X Wednesday morning, “The fact that @KamalaHarris has not conceded such a devastating loss speaks volumes.” Ackman also reposted accounts calling Trump’s victory “THE biggest political comeback in history.”
Ackman endorsed Trump in mid-July and gave $419,600 to the Trump 47 Committee. He spoke on CNBC two weeks ago, noting that Trump is the only candidate who has discussed how to accelerate the nation’s growth.
Ackman posted a few hours before Election Day that he believed Trump “will win a decisive victory and potentially a landslide Electoral College outcome.” He added, “It is important to remember that we are one country, and we will survive whoever is our next president.”
Palmer Luckey
Palmer Luckey, founder of Oculus and Anduril Industries, celebrated Trump’s win with a simple meme and Tweet praising Vance.
Palmer Luckey, the 32-year-old founder of virtual reality company Oculus and defense technology startup Anduril Industries, celebrated Trump’s win on Twitter a few hours before it was called with a meme often associated with saying “bye.”
pic.twitter.com/CtheOx6p0r
— Palmer Luckey (@PalmerLuckey) November 6, 2024
He also retweeted a post praising JD Vance that calls the vice president-elect “the most brilliant vice presidential pick in decades.”
Luckey says that he was fired from a job at Meta in 2016 after he made a political contribution to Trump’s campaign that drew ire from colleagues. Meta, however, says his firing was unrelated to the donation.
Since then, Luckey has remained an active Trump supporter and hosted fundraisers for the president-elect in 2020 and 2024.
Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos congratulated Trump on his “extraordinary political comeback.”
The founder of Amazon, who has been embroiled in controversy this election, congratulated Trump in a post on X.
“Big congratulations to our 45th and now 47th President on an extraordinary political comeback and decisive victory,” Bezos wrote. “No nation has bigger opportunities. Wishing @realDonaldtrump all success in leading and uniting the America we all love.”
Bezos didn’t endorse a candidate this election but did stoke massive controversy when he blocked The Washington Post, the newspaper he has owned since 2013, from endorsing Harris. In a column, Bezos defended his decision, saying it would create an illusion of bias for those who already don’t trust the media. After the Post announced its decision, multiple columnists quit, and tens of thousands of readers canceled their digital subscriptions.
“Presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election,” Bezos wrote in an op-ed defending his decision. He added, “I wish we had made the change earlier than we did, in a moment further from the election and the emotions around it.”
The billionaire, worth $211 billion, insisted that his decision to block the endorsement was not a “quid pro quo” with Trump. He had met with the president-elect the same day of the announcement to talk about Blue Origin, his space exploration company. The company, like all private space companies, depends on federal contracts and competes with Elon Musk’s more dominant SpaceX for government projects.
Barry Diller, chairman of IAC and Expedia and one of Harris’ leading donors, called the newspaper’s decision a “blunder” on CNBC’s Squawk Box.
Marc Benioff
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff donated to Harris’ campaign.
Benioff, the Salesforce CEO, didn’t comment on the outcome but reposted on X the cover of Time Magazine depicting president-elect Trump.
After Biden dropped out of the presidential race, Benioff posted an image on X of the president walking out of a frame as Harris walks into it. Benioff, who has owned Time Magazine since 2018, later criticized the vice president for not engaging in an interview with the publication. Still, he joined the hordes of tech executives who donated to her campaign.
Yann LeCun
Meta’s Chief AI Scientist Yann LeCun testifies at a Senate hearing.
Meta’s AI chief, Yann LeCun, took to X to share a link to a Threads post in the hours after the election result. In a post that appeared to reference the election, he said: “What can be claimed as American values now?”
LeCun has been publicly feuding with Musk over the last few months, trading lengthy X posts with the billionaire over topics including Musk’s management style and the value of scientific work. He’s also slammed the Tesla CEO for what he called “dangerous” public positions.
LeCun has been supportive of Harris’ campaign, even suggesting that a “multiplanet future” would happen “faster” if Harris was elected.
Andy Jassy
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy congratulated president-elect Trump in a post on Linked-In late Wednesday morning.
“We look forward to working with you and your administration on issues important to our customers, employees, community, and country,” Jassy wrote.
Compared to his predecessor Jeff Bezos, Jassy has taken a more hands-on approach to regulatory and political questions, The New York Times reported in 2022. The Federal Trade Commission is currently pursing an antitrust suit against Amazon, with trial scheduled for October 2026.
Jassy is pushing for Amazon to “aggressively” invest in AI. Trump’s policies on the technology remain murky. He will likely pursue fewer regulations than Harris would have.
Sam Altman
Altman congratulated Trump in a post on X on Wednesday morning.
The OpenAI CEO posted on X, “congrats to President Trump. i wish for his huge success in the job.” In a follow-up, Altman said that “it is critically important that the US maintains its lead in developing AI with democratic values.”
Altman has not publicly endorsed a candidate but has consistently donated to Democrats, including to the campaigns of Joe Biden in 2020 and Barack Obama in 2012. He has spent over $1 million on California candidates, and he has only donated to one Republican politician: North Carolina congressman Patrick McHenry in 2018.
Altman has refrained from discussing the election on social media, only writing he was “very glad President Trump is safe” after the attempted assassination in July. Neither candidate has spoken much about generative AI or has outlined plans for regulating it.
Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg, Meta CEO, took to Threads to congratulate Trump.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted his congratulations on Threads on Wednesday, writing, “Congratulations to President Trump on a decisive victory. We have great opportunities ahead of us as a country. Looking forward to working with you and your administration.”
Zuckerberg became one of Trump’s favored punching bags after the 2020 election — the former president accused the tech CEO of engaging in a “PLOT AGAINST THE PRESIDENT” and even threatened to jail him if reelected.
Though Zuckerberg never endorsed a candidate in 2024, he called Trump a “badass” this cycle after the former president survived an assassination attempt in Butler, PA. He’s worth $197 billion per Forbes.
Satya Nadella
The Microsoft CEO said he looked forward to engaging with Trump’s administration.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella posted about Trump’s victory on X, saying, “Congratulations President Trump, we’re looking forward to engaging with you and your administration to drive innovation forward that creates new growth and opportunity for the United States and the world.”
Nadella is among the tech CEOs who didn’t endorse either candidate during the election. Given that Microsoft is an investor in OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, Nadella is likely attuned to the future of AI regulation under the second Trump administration.
Sundar Pichai
Sundar Pichai congratulated Trump on X and committed to partnering with the administraiton.
Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google and its parent company, Alphabet, struck a similar tone to his tech counterparts in a post on X on Wednesday: “Congratulations to @realDonaldTrump on his decisive victory. We are in a golden age of American innovation and are committed to working with his administration to help bring the benefits to everyone.”
Before Tuesday’s election, Google executives told employees to steer clear of political statements on the company’s internal messaging forum, CNBC reported. Pichai himself reportedly sent around a memo emphasizing that users rely on the company to put out “high-quality and reliable information.”
Many of Pichai’s employees seem to have been partial to a Harris victory — Alphabet was the top employer among her July donors.
On an episode of Joe Rogan’s podcast, Trump said Pichai called him after he posed for a photo op at McDonald’s and repeated the claim at a rally at the end of October.
“I actually got a call from Sundar, Sundar, who’s great, from Google, he’s a great guy, very smart,” Trump said at the rally.
Pat Gelsinger
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger congratulated president-elect Trump.
Gelsinger, CEO of Intel, wrote on X, “We congratulate President-Elect Trump and Vice President-Elect Vance on their victory and look forward to working with their administration to advance America’s technology and manufacturing leadership in the world.”
Gelsinger hadn’t commented much on the election, though he recently criticized the Biden administration for delays of billions of dollars in CHIPS Act aid.
Tim Cook
Apple CEO Tim Cook.
“Congratulations President Trump on your victory!” Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote on X. “We look forward to engaging with you and your administration to help make sure the United States continues to lead with and be fueled by ingenuity, innovation, and creativity.”
Cook didn’t endorse a candidate this election, though Cook has maintained close business ties with Trump. Cook called Trump in mid-October about the European Union, leading Trump to sing his praises. “I believe that if Tim Cook didn’t run Apple, if Steve Jobs did, it wouldn’t be nearly as successful as it is now,” Trump said in an interview on the PBD Podcast shortly before the election.
In 2019, Cook and Trump reached a deal in which Apple would receive some exemptions to tariffs, after which Cook gifted him a $6,000 Mac Pro.
