Leaders at top big tech firms rushed to congratulate Donald Trump on his landslide election victory as they sought to rebuild bridges with the president-elect — and his most influential Silicon Valley booster, Elon Musk — ahead of a transformative period for the sector.

The chief executives of Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft posted supportive messages on social media on Wednesday. Below is a Tweet from Apple’s CEO Tim Cook.

Since Trump left office in 2020, some of Silicon Valley’s top companies have faced significant regulatory probes and antitrust threats as part of a crackdown by Joe Biden’s Democratic administration. They now stand to gain much from a more tech- and business-friendly attitude from Trump.

The world’s richest man — who also runs Tesla, SpaceX and xAI — posted American flag emojis in reply to Apple’s Tim Cook and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella on X, while commenting “indeed” to Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy and “cool” to Google boss Sundar Pichai. “America is a nation of builders. Soon, you will be free to build,” Musk pinned to the top of his X profile.

Deals

Trump’s second term is expected to be an immediate catalyst for corporate takeovers, private equity deals and venture capital exits, which have been paralyzed for years by heightened scrutiny from Biden’s competition watchdogs and high interest rates.

Rather than acquiring promising artificial intelligence start-ups outright, the likes of Microsoft, Amazon and Google instead got creative, hiring their founders or licensing their technology, which allowed them to avoid more conventional antitrust scrutiny.

Fears of deals being rejected also blocked venture-backed start-ups from making lucrative sales. 

Their chief antagonist has been Lina Khan, chair of the Federal Trade Commission, allied with Jonathan Kanter, head of antitrust at the Department of Justice. The pair have blocked M&A deals, targeted tech monopolies and scrutinized partnerships between AI start-ups and Big Tech companies, including Microsoft.

“The dealmaking has begun, conversations are already happening among boards of directors,” said Boris Feldman, co-head of Freshfields’ global tech practice. “There will be a flood, knowing that when it’s time for regulatory approval, Khan will be back at Yale Law School.”

Investment bankers and advisers to Silicon Valley’s tech giants and venture capitalists were also buoyant as the US dollar and stock markets surged.

“From a corporate perspective [we are] thrilled. The flood gates are about to open and we’re going to print money,” said one person at Goldman Sachs, whose stock rose 13 per cent on Wednesday.

Antitrust

Trump’s return to the White House could also spell relief from antitrust probes in the US and Europe.

Khan and Kanter have spearheaded a vigorous campaign against Big Tech’s corporate power. Most notably the DOJ this year won a landmark ruling against Google in search, while other lawsuits have been filed to challenge the market power of Apple, Amazon and Meta.

Many predict that Khan’s days are numbered at the FTC. Musk wrote on X last week that she “will be fired soon.” Analysts have speculated that Trump could direct the DOJ to discontinue its monopoly lawsuit against Apple, filed earlier this year. The iPhone maker is also set to be fined under the EU’s new Digital Markets Act over its App Store rules. Trump has made no secret of his contempt for the EU regulator.

“An interesting question is whether Trump or [vice-president JD] Vance will tell the EU and UK to stop punishing US companies, especially in light of challenges from China?” said Freshfields’ Feldman. “Biden didn’t push back on it; if the tech companies feel they are building a relationship with Trump, that might be their ask: help us get the Europeans off our backs.”

In October, Trump said in a podcast interview that Cook had called him to complain about a recent EU court ruling that required the company to pay €13bn in back taxes in Ireland, as well as a €1.8bn antitrust fine in March for stifling competition from rival music streaming services.

“[Cook] said they are using that [money] to run their enterprise,” Trump said. “I said — but Tim, I’ve got to get elected first. But I’m not going to let them take advantage of our companies. That won’t be happening.”

There’s a lot more to this report regarding social media and AI that you could read it on the full Financial Times.

Big congratulations to our 45th and now 47th President on an extraordinary political comeback and decisive victory. No nation has bigger opportunities. Wishing @realDonaldTrump all success in leading and uniting the America we all love.

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) November 6, 2024