Shark Tank star Kevin O'Leary explains why tech moguls ‘want to suck up to Trump’
O'Leary's remarks came after Trump addressed his recent meetings with Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Google co-founder Sergei Brin
Kevin O'Leary is sharing his take on why tech moguls are suddenly racing to Mar-a-Lago to meet with Donald Trump. On Tuesday, the Shark Tank star explained that CEOs like Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai, who paid a visit to the president-elect at his Florida resort last week, only want “two things.”
Shark Tank star Kevin O'Leary explains why tech leaders are rushing to meet Trump
During his Tuesday interview with Fox Business' The Evening Edit, O'Leary said that “everybody knows he [Trump] is pro-business,” adding that “as far as those CEOs, there’s two things they care about.”
“They know with certainty tax rates probably stay at 21%,” the 70-year-old businessman said of the tech giants lining up to meet the president-elect. “But the other thing is deregulation and freedom of speech on social media,” O'Leary expanded.
The Canadian investor went on, “So all of a sudden you want to suck up to Trump in a very big way because of two reasons. He’s got the power. He’s got the mandate, he’s got the reach. And no one’s going to touch him for two years.”
“I don’t care if you’re running a country or you’re a CEO of an S&P 500 company, you’re sucking up and there’s a very important reason for it: power. [Political] majority mandate, there’s nothing like it,” he added.
O'Leary's remarks come just a day after Trump addressed his recent meetings with the Apple CEO, Google CEO, and Google co-founder Sergei Brin.
“I did have dinner with Tim Cook. I had a dinner with sort of almost all of them, and the rest are coming,” he said during a press conference at his Palm Beach club on Monday.
Trump also pointed out the stark differences in the behaviour of tech leaders during his first and second terms in the White House. “This is one of the big differences,” he said, explaining that in 2016 “everybody was fighting me. In this term, everybody wants to be my friend.”
O'Leary's remarks proved the future president's statement, as Mr. Wonderful said of the coming Trump administration, “This mandate’s going to be way better than the last one, a lot more stable and very good for business.” “I’m licking my own chops right now. These are good times,” he added.
