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Facebook cofounder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. (Photo by Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Images)
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With reporting from Angel Au-Yeung, Deniz Çam, Sergei Klebnikov, Chase Peterson-Withorn, Ariel Shapiro, Giacomo Tognini and Lisette Voytko.
The storming of the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters drew reactions from around the world, as the rioters broke into the building to disrupt the Congress’ ceremonial counting of electoral votes. The response from the business community was varied—while many stayed silent, others quickly condemned the attempted insurrection. The Business Roundtable — whose members include more than a dozen billionaires such as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, FedEx’s Fred Smith and Oracle’s Safra Catz — issued a statement calling the claims of unproven election fraud “reprehensible” and urging the country to unite around Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
The billionaire heads of Facebook and Twitter, Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey, temporarily banned Trump’s social media accounts, with Zuckerberg declaring that the president will not be able to post on the social networking site until at least after the inauguration. While most of the billionaires who spoke out denounced the violence, not all did — John Catsimatidis, best known for owning grocery chain Gristedes, compared the riots to last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests.
Below are reactions from 14 billionaires; net worth estimates are as of January 7, 2020.
Net worth: $2.4 billion
Source of wealth: hedge funds
The hedge fund billionaire took aim at Trump late on Wednesday night. “It is time for you to resign and apologize to all Americans,” he tweeted the president. In another tweet, Ackman struck a more positive tone, saying that the country has a chance to “come closer together,” and highlighted that “this is the first time that Fox News and CNN have had the same view of Donald Trump and his actions.”
(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
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Net worth: $54.9 billion
Source of wealth: finance and media
The former presidential candidate (who spent more than $1 billion of his own fortune funding his 2020 run) hasn’t been quiet about wanting Trump to leave office. After ending his campaign, Bloomberg pledged to dedicate additional financial resources to getting Biden elected—with varying results. By Thursday afternoon, Bloomberg excoriated the siege, calling it a “stain on the country’s history” in a tweet, adding that it “won’t soon be forgotten. The enabling of the attack on our democracy must end.”
Net worth: $2.8 billion
Source of wealth: oil, supermarkets, real estate
The longtime Trump ally and one-time New York City mayoral candidate took to his AM radio podcast on Wednesday night to downplay the violent storming of the U.S. Capitol: “Was it worse than Black Lives Matter launching in Washington?” He also spouted the unsubstantiated claim that the rioters were antifa activists who infiltrated a peaceful pro-Trump protest, a conspiracy his daughter — Manhattan Republican Party chair Andrea Catsimatidis—is also spreading.
Net worth: $41.6 billion
Source of wealth: Dell computers
Dell, who was an advisor on Trump’s manufacturing council before it was disbanded in 2017, shared a statement on Twitter on Wednesday, calling the insurrection “disgraceful.” “This attempted subversion of our democracy is an attack against us all, and we must stand together, united, in the defense of our values and our country,” he wrote. As the founder and chief executive of Dell Technologies, he also signed a letter along with more than 200 business leaders who condemned the violence in D.C. and asked the president and his administration to step up.
Net worth: $1.7 billion
Source of wealth: banking
The head of JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank by assets, “strongly condemned” the violence in Washington on Wednesday. “This is not who we are as a people or a country,” Dimon said in a statement. “We are better than this.” Dimon said elected officials have a responsibility to “call for an end to the violence,” accept the election results and “support the peaceful transition of power.”
(Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images)
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Net worth: $12.9 billion
Source of wealth: Twitter, Square
Whether he likes it or not, Dorsey controls the President of the United States’ direct communications with his 88.7 million followers. Shortly after Trump tweeted out the video message to rioters, Twitter took down his post and said his account would be locked. Twitter said it would unlock the account 12 hours after Trump deletes the video message, along with two other messages that violated the company’s rules. As of Thursday morning, Twitter confirmed that Trump had taken down those tweets; Trump has yet to send out another tweet. Dorsey, meanwhile, has stayed largely silent, except for one retweet of journalist Glenn Greenwald, who posted a video of Democrat Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s speech on the House floor shortly after the 9/11 attacks. In her speech, Lee explains her lone vote against the authorization for use of military force in response to the attacks.
Net worth: $3.9 billion
Source of wealth: real estate, investments
Greene, a registered Democrat who ran for the Senate in 2010 and spent more than $30 million running for governor of Florida in 2018, appeared on CNBC in 2016 to warn that he would be “scared to death” if Trump became president. In a tweet yesterday, Greene shared a link to that video appearance along with a statement on the day’s events. “At the height of Covid he continues to throw fuel into the fire,” he wrote. “It’s time to put an end to the insanity!”
Net worth: $16.6 billion
Source of wealth: Facebook, Asana
The Democratic megadonor, who helped create Facebook and workflow software company Asana, reacted to Twitter commentary that the riots were not surprising, given the rhetoric from President Trump in recent weeks. “Many people [are] saying today should not be a surprise,” Moskovitz wrote. “I agree all the way up until this point – I am thoroughly surprised by this and agree it is hard to explain without intent.”
(Photo by Britta Pedersen-Pool/Getty Images)
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Net worth: $177.2 billion
Source of wealth: Tesla, SpaceX
The world’s second-richest person, who is not known for showing restraint on Twitter, responded to the day’s events with a meme. The Tesla cofounder and CEO posted a widely-shared picture of the so-called “QAnon Shaman” Jake Angeli, posing in the Senate chamber, with the caption: “This is what happens when you cancel burning man.” In an earlier tweet — another meme, Musk appeared to assign some blame for the chaotic events in Washington, D.C. to Facebook.
Net worth: $3.4 billion
Source of wealth: hospitality, investments
Priztker, the democratic governor of Illinois, had strong words for Trump on Wednesday evening. “As the heart of our democracy was under siege and blood was literally being spilled in our most sacred halls, Donald Trump was praising the attackers,” he said in a statement. “He poses a danger to our nation. He must be impeached and removed from office immediately.” Pritzker and Trump have had a particularly acrimonious relationship over the past year, trading barbs over the Covid-19 pandemic and the George Floyd protests.
Net worth: $1.2 billion
Source of wealth: venture capital
The billionaire venture capitalist has long been vocal in his opposition to President Trump, as well as the outsized role that social media platforms have played in Trump’s ascent to power. As the riots continued, Sacca wrote a tweet condemning the tech titans of Twitter and Facebook: “You’ve got blood on your hands, @jack and Zuck. For four years, you’ve rationalized this terror. Inciting treason is not a free speech exercise. If you work at these companies, it’s on you too. Shut it down.” It was retweeted 2,700 times, including once from another notable billionaire: Marc Benioff of Salesforce.
(Photo by Paul Bruinooge/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
Paul Bruinooge/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
Net worth: $21 billion
Source of wealth: investments
The Blackstone CEO, who served on Trump’s short-lived business advisory council, spoke out against the riots in a statement posted to his company’s website. “The insurrection that followed the President’s remarks today is appalling and an affront to the democratic values we hold dear as Americans,” Schwarzman said. “I am shocked and horrified by this mob’s attempt to undermine our Constitution. As I said in November, the outcome of the election is very clear and there must be a peaceful transition of power.”
Net worth: $1.4 billion
Source of wealth: hedge funds
A former presidential hopeful, Steyer was active on Twitter Wednesday, first celebrating the wins of Georgia Senators-elect Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, later condemning Trump and Republican lawmakers for encouraging violence at the Capitol. “We must hold them accountable. From the seditious voices in power who encouraged this to the violent traitors who stormed Congress,” he said. “But in the end, our democracy triumphed. We will move forward with the Presidency, the House and the Senate.”
Net worth: $98.3 billion
Source of wealth: Facebook
After years of taking a notoriously hands-off stance on political content moderation — particularly with figures like President Trump — Mark Zuckerberg finally threw down the gauntlet on Wednesday night. After Trump posted a video asking rioters who broke into the Capitol to go home, while also saying “we love you,” Facebook removed the video and temporarily blocked his accounts on Facebook and Instagram. On Thursday morning, the Facebook cofounder and CEO posted a lengthy statement on his personal account on the social networking site, announcing the president’s ban has been extended “indefinitely.” Zuckerberg cited Trump’s use of the platform “to condone rather than condemn the actions of his supporters at the Capitol building” as well as Trump’s intent “to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power” as reasons for extending the ban.