Zucking up? Mark Zuckerberg to cohost reception for Trump inauguration, but not with wife Priscilla

Mark Zuckerberg will cohost a reception next week for Donald Trump’s inauguration, but not with his wife Priscilla Chan.

Published on: Jan 15, 2025, 11:20:01 IST

By Sanya Jain

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Mark Zuckerberg will cohost a reception next week for Donald Trump’s inauguration. The Meta CEO, along with a handful of billionaire Republican donors, will play host at the black tie event on Monday evening, shortly before the inaugural balls.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg with wife Priscilla Chan. (Instagram/@zuck)

The other cohosts are Miriam Adelson, the Dallas Mavericks owner and widow of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson; Tilman Fertitta, casino magnate, Houston Rockets owner and Trump’s pick to serve as US ambassador to Italy; Todd Ricketts, the co-owner of the Chicago Cubs; and Ricketts’ wife, Sylvie Légère, the Associated Press reported.

Interestingly enough, Zuckerberg’s wife, Priscilla Chan, will not cohost the reception along with him. The absence of her name from the invite did not go unnoticed on social media.

“Notice it does not say Priscilla Chan,” read one comment on X under a picture of the reception invite. “His wife’s name isn’t on the invite. Interesting,” another X user noted.

Zucking up to Trump?

A picture of the invite was shared on X by American journalist and podcaster Tara Palmeri. “More Zucking up... Zuckerberg to host an inaugural ball reception for Trump and Vance with Miriam Adelson, Todd Ricketts and Tilman Fertitta,” she wrote.

Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to cohost the reception is being perceived as another attempt on the billionaire’s part to ‘cosy up’ to Trump and align himself more closely with the incoming US president’s conservative viewpoint.

He is not alone in doing so.

A report in the Financial Times noted how Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Apple CEO Tim Cook have all extended the olive branch to Donald Trump with high-profile gestures.

Pichai flew to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, as did Bezos. The Amazon founder also cancelled plans for his publication, The Washington Post, to endorse Trump’s Democratic rival.

(Also read: Mark Zuckerberg's Meta removes tampons from men's bathrooms, faces backlash)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sanya Jain
Sanya Jain is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times Digital. She has nearly a decade of experience in covering offbeat stories that speak to the everyday experience - from viral videos to human interest copies that spark conversation. Her interests stretch across business, pop culture, social media trends, entertainment and global affairs. Before joining Hindustan Times, Sanya spent two years with Moneycontrol and five years with NDTV. She holds an undergraduate degree in English literature from St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and a master’s in journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai. Sanya has a sharp eye for spotting emerging trends and looking for newsworthy angles to elevate viral posts into meaningful narratives. She was the first one, for example, to cover Narayana Murthy’s remark on 70-hour work weeks that sparked a national conversation. She is equally at ease writing about business leaders as about the common man, about issues of national importance and memes that amuse social media. Sanya enjoys speaking with content creators, newsmakers and entrepreneurs to transform everyday moments into engaging, slice-of-life stories that resonate with readers. When she is not working, Sanya can be found curled up with a good book. Born and raised in Lucknow, she has spent the last several years in Delhi. She is deeply interested in animal welfare and now spends a lot of her time running after her destructive orange cat.Read More

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