The week CEOs bent the knee to Trump

Gathered behind red velvet ropes were senior executives at Visa, Meta Platforms, Goldman Sachs, Charles Schwab and Citadel, according to people who were present. Real-estate and aerospace magnate Robert Bigelow was spotted in the crowd, as was investor Bill Ackman.

“The economy, I believe, is going to be very strong," said Trump, standing in front of a portrait of himself on the cover of Time magazine, which this week named him its person of the year.

Corporate America is hoping Trump is right—but it isn’t leaving anything to chance.

Titans of the business world are rushing to make inroads with the president-elect, gambling that personal relationships with the next occupant of the Oval Office will help their bottom lines and spare them from Trump’s wrath.

In the weeks since the election, Trump and his advisers have been flooded with calls from c-suite executives who are eager to get face time with the president-elect and his team at Mar-a-Lago, the private Florida club where the transition team conducts much of its planning for the second term. A business consultant close to Trump is advising corporate clients to engage with Trump in any way they can and emphasize common goals, such as tax and regulatory changes. Clients are already angling for spots on whatever business advisory panels the new president may form.

Already, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, and Jeff Bezos’ Amazon has also planned a $1 million contribution.

The day before Thanksgiving, Zuckerberg, the billionaire CEO, dined with the president-elect on a patio at Mar-a-Lago. At one point, Zuckerberg and other attendees stood, hand over heart, as the club played a rendition of the national anthem sung by imprisoned defendants who are accused of crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, according to people familiar with the matter. There was no announcement that the recording was by the Jan. 6th choir, one of the people said. Zuckerberg’s Facebook had suspended Trump’s account following the riot.

Bezos is planning to meet with Trump next week. Bezos will travel to Trump’s club with his fiancée, Lauren Sánchez, and have dinner with Trump, according to people familiar with the matter.

The outreach is a remarkable change of fortunes for Trump, who became persona non grata to companies after the Jan. 6 attack. In response, Amazon, Comcast and General Electric pledged to stop donations to the Republican lawmakers who objected to President Biden’s victory. Some corporations such as AT&T, ConocoPhillips, Dow Inc., Facebook and United Parcel Service said they would pause campaign donations from their political-action committees to lawmakers and political candidates.

While Trump won the support of some Wall Street investors during his campaign, many chief executives stayed on the sidelines.

Now, Trump and the small group of financiers who backed him during the campaign are riding high. The president-elect rewarded his most loyal supporters with cabinet posts, selecting investor Scott Bessent as Treasury secretary and longtime Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary. Some in Trump’s inner circle have marveled at their sudden influence. Lutnick was overheard by an attendee at Thursday’s New York Stock Exchange event privately telling those at the gathering that he sat next to Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a recent meeting at Mar-a-Lago.

“Given the election results, there is going to be an immense amount of policymaking in Washington next year and smart CEOs realize it’s better to shape an agenda than fight an agenda," said Alex Conant, a partner at Firehouse Strategies, a Republican public affairs firm.

This week, Trump senior adviser Jason Miller told corporate leaders at The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council that the businessman president-elect loves CEOs and encouraged them to call him—offering to make the connection personally.

Executives, in turn, have publicly signaled their eagerness to get close to Trump. “We look forward to working together to advance American success and prosperity for everyone," Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, who owns Time magazine, wrote on X this week. Benioff has in the past contributed to both Democrats and Republicans.

On Wednesday, Trump’s incoming national security adviser, Rep. Mike Waltz (R., Fla.), addressed the Business Roundtable, a pro-business lobbying group. Among the attendees was JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, according to people briefed on the closed-door gathering.

“President Trump’s agenda includes economic, energy and regulatory policies that will allow the US to reclaim its global dominance of innovation and technology," transition spokesman Brian Hughes said. “President Trump is surrounding himself with industry leaders such as Elon Musk as he works to restore innovation, reduce regulation, and celebrate free speech in his second term."

The campaign by corporate executives to get in with Trump will continue next week. Trump is hosting at least 15 business leaders at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday for a fundraiser for his allied super political-action committee, Make America Great Again Inc., a person helping to organize the event said. Tickets cost $1 million, according to an invitation.

Bezos’ meeting with Trump next week comes at a critical moment for the relationship between the two men.

Bezos has long been a perceived enemy of Trump, who lambasted the billionaire and his companies during his last presidency. Amazon claimed the animosity—much of it related to Bezos’ ownership of the Washington Post—cost it business.

Since Trump’s last presidency, Bezos has made some inroads around Trump’s circle. He has moved to Miami and has become friends with Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, according to people familiar with the matter. The pair has dined with Bezos and Sánchez, the people said. Ivanka and Jared attended Bezos’ 60th birthday celebration, a “celestial Space Age" party at Bezos’ Beverly Hills mansion. “The perception that they don’t have a good relationship just isn’t right. Bezos and Trump speak regularly," a person close to Bezos said.

Shortly before the election, the Washington Post announced it wouldn’t endorse a presidential candidate, breaking with decades of tradition and causing it to lose at least 250,000 subscribers, the paper reported.

The big technology companies have been a particular source of ire for Trump over the years. Andrew Ferguson, Trump’s nominee to chair the Federal Trade Commission, mentioned suppression of conservative voices on social-media platforms during his pitch for the role, according to people familiar with the matter. After Trump nominated him, he tweeted: “At the FTC, we will end Big Tech’s vendetta against competition and free speech."

Earlier this week, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, according to a person familiar with the situation. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has found himself on the outs with the incoming administration because of a feud he is having with Musk, one of Trump’s top advisers. Postelection, Altman worked to repair his relationship with the administration, holding a meeting with Trump transition co-chairman Lutnick, the Journal previously reported. Altman is also contributing $1 million to Trump’s inauguration, according to a person familiar with the matter. Fox News earlier reported the planned contribution.

It remains to be seen what role Musk, the CEO who has become closest to Trump, will play in his relationship-building with American corporations.

Musk, a top financial backer of Trump during the campaign, didn’t attend the meetings between Trump’s team and Zuckerberg’s, according to people familiar with the matter. Musk, who has long feuded with Zuckerberg, on Thursday reposted a post alleging that Zuckerberg’s platforms were censoring conservatives and wrote, “Concerning."

Natalie Andrews and Alex Leary contributed to this article.

Write to Brian Schwartz at brian.schwartz@wsj.com, Dana Mattioli at dana.mattioli@wsj.com and Rebecca Ballhaus at rebecca.ballhaus@wsj.com