Top technology, financial and media executives gathered on the White House on Wednesday for a state dinner honoring Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, as US President Joe Biden sought to make use of the star-studded bash to strengthen security and economic ties between the 2 allies.
Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase & Co., Larry Fink of Blackrock Inc., Tim Cook of Apple Inc. and Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com Inc. were among the many business leaders who attended the event, a part of a guest list that highlighted the relationships between the USA and Asia’s second largest economy.
Jon Gray of Blackstone Inc., Neil Bluhm, chairman of Rush Street Interactive Inc., Arvind Krishna, CEO of International Business Machines Corp., Masayoshi Son, head of SoftBank, and Ken Kobayashi, former chairman of Mitsubishi Corp., are also in attendance .
Attendees enjoy a three-course meal featuring house-cured salmon and dry-aged ribeye steak, paired with wines from Washington state and Oregon. While Kishida’s arrival missed the height of Washington’s cherry trees’ bloom, many were original given to the USA In Japan, spring celebrations dominated dinner with decorations of butterflies, Japanese gardens and an inventive depiction of a koi pond. Guests might be entertained by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon.
Many of the participants nodded to the defense topics that largely dominated Kishida and Biden’s meetings on Wednesday – the primary official visit by a Japanese leader since 2015 – because the leaders sought to cement their military ties within the Indo-Pacific to spice up growth Countering China’s influence within the region and increasingly assertive behavior. During the visit, the heads of state and government also presented a variety of initiatives to strengthen partnerships and investments in technology.
In addition to Cook and Bezos, outstanding Silicon Valley executives included Microsoft Corp. President Brad Smith, whose company made the announcement Tuesday Invest $2.9 billion will expand its hyperscale cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure in Japan over the subsequent two years.
Sanjay Mehrotra of Micron Technology Inc. and Megan Myungwon Lee, chairman of Panasonic Corp. of North America, are also in attendance, together with Mark Walter, chairman of the Los Angeles Dodgers and CEO of Guggenheim Partners.
Biden also invited two outstanding union allies — David McCall, president of the United Steelworkers, and Shawn Fain of the United Auto Workers union. McCall’s union rejects a politically controversial deal to take over United States Steel Corp. by the Japanese Nippon Steel Corp. away. The high-profile offer has set off an election-year firestorm, with Biden earlier Wednesday reaffirming his support for U.S. staff looking for major concessions in future motion.
Kishida promoted U.S. investment in Japan in key technologies equivalent to semiconductors, AI and quantum computing, during a lunch Tuesday in Washington with business executives including IBM Vice Chairman Gary Cohn and Biden, a former chief economic adviser to former President Donald Trump’s rival within the parliamentary elections. Also attending the luncheon were Albert Bourla, chief executive of Pfizer Inc., Ted Colbert, defense chief of Boeing Co., and David Goeckeler, CEO of Western Digital Corp.
Celebrities who received coveted invitations to the state dinner include actor Robert De Niro and Olympic gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi. Former Presidents Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton are also attending, together with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell and New York Governor Kathy Hochul. Also in attendance is Cecile Richards, former president of Planned Parenthood.
Biden’s list also includes a variety of outstanding donors, including Fred Eychaner, Mindy Gray and Michael Sacks, chairman of Grosvenor Capital Management. Sacks hosted a fundraiser for Biden in Chicago earlier this week.
The state dinner for Kishida is the fifth of Biden’s presidency and a part of a grand White House tradition of honoring foreign leaders.
