By Jack Nicas, Rolfe Winkler and Laura Stevens
Many of the most prominent executives from Silicon Valley are
expected to attend a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump this
week that will help steer the complicated relationship between the
incoming White House and some of the nation's most valuable
companies.
Expected attendees for the Wednesday summit include Apple Inc.
Chief Executive Tim Cook, Facebook Inc. Chief Operating Officer
Sheryl Sandberg, Microsoft Corp. CEO Satya Nadella, Tesla Motors
Inc. CEO Elon Musk, and both the CEO and chairman of Google parent
Alphabet Inc., Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, people familiar with
the plans said. The CEOs of Intel Corp., International Business
Machines Corp., Oracle Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc. also are
expected to attend, the people said.
Other executives could be invited. Amazon.com Inc. CEO Jeff
Bezos also received an invitation but it isn't yet clear whether he
is attending.
The meeting's agenda hasn't been made public. Tech companies are
concerned about Trump plans for immigration policy, antitrust
enforcement and government demands for user data the companies
have.
Mr. Trump, meanwhile, has emphasized the importance of boosting
U.S. jobs, a subject that could put tech firms on the defensive.
Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook are five of the
seven most valuable companies in the U.S., yet they generally
employ fewer people than big firms in other industries. The five
together employ about 600,000 people, many of whom work abroad.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., meanwhile, employs 1.5 million in the U.S.
The tech industry's heavy reliance on software limits the need for
as many employees as other industries to manufacture, sell and
distribute products and services.
During the campaign, Mr. Trump targeted companies including
Apple and IBM for purportedly sending jobs overseas. He said he
would "get Apple to build their damn computers and things" in the
U.S. Apple says it employs more than 80,000 people in the U.S. and
created an additional two million U.S. jobs indirectly.
The Obama White House was largely favorable toward Silicon
Valley, from its "net-neutrality" policy requiring internet
providers to treat all web traffic equally, to its hands-off
approach to tech's increasing concentration of power.
For the tech industry, "The best-case scenario is being left
alone," said Paul Gallant, a Cowen & Co. analyst who focuses on
tech policy. "But they're so central to people's lives and the
economy, that seems unlikely." Still, he said companies likely will
seek common ground with Mr. Trump. "Maybe that's where Trump's
deal-maker instincts lead to a manageable four years for these
companies," he said.
One area of common interest could be tax reform. Mr. Trump is
expected to promote corporate tax reform, which, depending on the
details, could enable U.S. tech companies to bring home hundreds of
billions of dollars they currently hold offshore. Apple alone holds
about 91% of its $237.6 billion in cash offshore.
Tech executives broadly opposed Mr. Trump during the campaign.
Ms. Sandberg publicly supported Hillary Clinton; Mr. Cook held a
fundraiser for her; and Mr. Schmidt helped the Clinton campaign.
Tech investor and Facebook director Peter Thiel, a Trump transition
official who helped organize Wednesday's meeting, was one of the
few Silicon Valley names to support Mr. Trump.
Alphabet plans to engage Mr. Trump and his team on any issues
that arise that challenge their values, a person familiar with the
company said. Among the policies Alphabet executives are watching
are net neutrality, antitrust enforcement and the issuance of H-1B
visas, which Alphabet and its tech peers use to hire skilled
foreigners, the person said.
Mr. Trump has criticized net neutrality. Companies like Alphabet
and Netflix Inc. support the rule because it protects their
video-streaming services, but broadband providers such as Comcast
Corp. and AT&T Inc. have lobbied against it.Republicans
generally oppose net neutrality, and Mr. Trump tapped economist and
net-neutrality opponent Jeffrey Eisenach to help pick staff for the
new Federal Communications Commission.
Mr. Eisenach didn't immediately respond to a request for
comment.
In some areas important for tech, the incoming administration's
inclinations are unclear. Mr. Trump has signaled he could toughen
antitrust enforcement, and this could raise concerns for Amazon and
Alphabet, which hold significant power over online retail and
search.
Alphabet survived several FTC probes during the Obama
administration and is battling antitrust charges in Europe. During
the campaign, Mr. Trump said Amazon had a "huge antitrust
problem."
But to help staff the Federal Trade Commission, Mr. Trump chose
former FTC commissioner Joshua Wright, a law professor who has
argued against antitrust enforcement, including in defense of
Google. And Mr. Thiel has defended market concentration in
tech.
"We don't know what kind of Donald Trump we're going to see,"
said Barry Lynn, a senior fellow who studies antitrust issues at
the New America Foundation, a left-leaning Washington think tank
whose board includes Mr. Schmidt. "But if Thiel and Wright are any
indication of where things are going, then Silicon Valley doesn't
have much to fear."
Mr. Wright declined to comment. A spokesman for Mr. Thiel also
declined to comment.
Overall, tech is one of the most politically active industries,
spending at least $162 million on lobbying through October this
year, according to data from the Center for Responsive
Politics.
Alphabet in that period had 85 registered lobbyists and spent
$11.9 million lobbying on issues including antitrust, labor and
patents, according to the data. The No. 2 spender was Amazon, with
54 lobbyists and $8.6 million spent lobbying on issues including
trade, taxes, immigration and drone regulations.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 11, 2016 19:26 ET (00:26 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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