Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is co-hosting a black tie reception to celebrate President-elect Donald Trump's election victory on the day of his inauguration, The Hill reported on Wednesday.
Zuckerberg is hosting the event, which is scheduled to last three and a half hours and comes prior to the evening inaugural balls in Washington, D.C., together with Republican mega-donor Miriam Adelson, former Republican National Committee finance chair Todd Ricketts and his wife Sylvie Légère, and Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, who was chosen by Trump to be the new U.S. ambassador to Italy.
Zuckerberg has recently taken a number of steps in the hopes of being in Trump's good graces, These include attending several meetings with the president-elect at Mar-a-Lago, making a $1 million donation to the inaugural fund and abruptly ending Meta's fact-checking program.
He is one of several leaders of tech companies that is trying to gain favor and pull with a GOP administration that is expected to have significant influence over their industry, according to The New York Times.
Previously, Zuckerberg had rarely made public his connection to political events, and did not play a similar role at President Joe Biden's inauguration four years ago or at Trump's first one in 2017.
The upcoming inauguration celebrations, however, have reportedly become such a hot item among corporate leaders that some companies and executives have donated to back Trump's inaugural committee even though they do not come with a guarantee of getting seats.