It's no surprise that leaders at companies like Alphabet/Google, Facebook, and Microsoft will be part of a tech industry meeting with President-elect Donald Trump this week. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is both rumored to attend and not attend. We've asked Tesla for confirmation one way or the other, but thought we'd let you know that the meeting itself is happening for now. It's all a different tone than what happened at a secret meeting from before the election, when tech industry and Republican leaders were trying to stop Trump. Now that Peter Thiel has dispatched Gawker, he's helping Trump reach out to Silicon Valley types for this meeting.
The Wall Street Journal says that Musk has an incentive to go talk to Trump because, "Musk's various businesses are more dependent on the US government for revenue than most tech companies," notably from NASA for Musk's SpaceX work and federal incentives for zero-emission cars. Recode says that it is because he will be busy with SpaceX and Tesla work that Musk will not travel to New York to visit with Trump.
As for what the tech leaders who do attend will tell Trump, there will be some fawning. The CEO of Oracle, Safra Catz, emailed Reuters that, "I plan to tell the president-elect that we are with him and are here to help in any way we can. If he can reform the tax code, reduce regulation, and negotiate better trade deals, the US technology community will be stronger and more competitive than ever."
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The Wall Street Journal says that Musk has an incentive to go talk to Trump because, "Musk's various businesses are more dependent on the US government for revenue than most tech companies," notably from NASA for Musk's SpaceX work and federal incentives for zero-emission cars. Recode says that it is because he will be busy with SpaceX and Tesla work that Musk will not travel to New York to visit with Trump.
As for what the tech leaders who do attend will tell Trump, there will be some fawning. The CEO of Oracle, Safra Catz, emailed Reuters that, "I plan to tell the president-elect that we are with him and are here to help in any way we can. If he can reform the tax code, reduce regulation, and negotiate better trade deals, the US technology community will be stronger and more competitive than ever."
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