Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will be among executives from leading tech companies meeting with Donald Trump this week. The president-elect will play host to industry leaders in New York on Wednesday.
Among those joining Nadella will be Apple CEO Tim Cook, Alphabet CEO Larry Page, and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. Interestingly, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was invited but is unlikely to attend.
Bezos has been a long-time vocal critic of Trump and has engaged in public spats with the Republican. Specifically, the Bezos owned Washington Post has been a target of Trump's wrath during the presidential campaign.
While Nadella, Cook, and Sandberg have not vocally criticized Trump, they will surely be seeking insurances. Trump is a controversial figure and while personal beliefs are unlikely to be raised at the meeting, the executives will have economic concerns.
It is worth noting that only Cisco CEO Chuck Robbing and Oracle CEO Safra Catz have agreed to attend. In others words, Nadella and Cook may not even show up. Trump has said he wants to bring manufacturing back to the United States.
That means companies like Microsoft and Apple building their devices on home soil. At the moment, the companies largely outsource production to Asian and South American markets.
Trump and Microsoft
Last month, we revealed that Microsoft will face closer scrutiny over H-1B tech visa program. US Attorney General Nominee, Senator Jeff Sessions has voiced his concerns over the program. Under the Trump administration, the program will be watched more closely and could even be in danger.
H1-B visas gives companies the ability to temporarily employ international workers for highly qualified applications. Short-contract workers appeal to Microsoft to help fill areas with short demand. The company took advantage of H-1B and had a total of 3,952 applications in 2015.