Stars of Hollywood including Halle Berry and Steven Spielberg and bosses of high-tech giants like Google and Microsoft are opening their wallets to help fund Barack Obama’s inauguration party.
Obama, in keeping with his vow to purge United States politics of influence peddling, has ordered that the names of all inauguration donors, withheld by previous presidents, be published on the internet.
Lists of those stumping up for the inauguration on January 20 show that Spielberg and his wife, Kate, each gave the maximum $50 000 donation.
Actress Halle Berry, listed as working for her Bumper production company, also gave $50 000, as did comedian and actor Jamie Foxx.
Sharon Stone, of California, is also on the list with a $50 000 donation.
Obama’s inauguration fund is also attracting big contributions from titans of the US internet and software industry.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who served on Obama’s campaign economic advisory board, gave $25 000, as did Google co-founder Larry Page and Google vice-president Marissa Mayer.
Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft gave $50 000 as did his wife, Connie.
Former basketball star and businessman Earvin “Magic” Johnson also gave $25 000 and five members of the family of billionaire financier and philanthropist George Soros racked up $250 000 between them.
The fund is required to pay for the long list of balls and other commemorative events on and around inauguration day. Big money donors can expect special ticket privileges and VIP access to events.
Obama’s committee, in contrast with previous inaugural committees, has already said it will not accept contributions from corporations, political action committees, labour unions, registered lobbyists or non-US citizens. – AFP