Transcript of the Introductory Remarks at Trump’s Tech Exec Meeting

At the start, everyone in attendance went around the table introducing themselves.

Tim Cook: “Tim Cook, very good to be here. And I look very forward to talking to the president-elect about the things that we can do to help you achieve some things you want.”

Two things. First: Cook is the only executive who didn’t say what company he worked for. Sort of like how the Apple stores just have the logo, and iPhones are the only phones (other than Google’s lookalike Pixels) that don’t have anything printed on the front — he didn’t have to.

Second: “some things you want”. That’s not an accident.

Larry Page: “Larry Page, Alphabet and Google, probably the youngest company here.”

Donald Trump: “Looks like the youngest person.” [Laughs]

Mr. Page: “Really excited to be here.”

Page was sitting right next to Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook, which was founded in 2004 — six years after Google. I suppose “Alphabet” is technically the younger company, but come on — it’s just a new name, not a new company. (Update: Palantir (2004), Tesla (2003), and SpaceX (2002) were also all founded years after Google. If only there were some website where Larry Page could search for the founding years of companies, perhaps he wouldn’t have said something so goofily wrong.)

The Wall Street Journal also had this intriguing tidbit, which The New York Times (and a few other reports I’ve read) missed:

After Wednesday’s meeting, Mr. Cook of Apple and Mr. Musk of Tesla stayed at Trump Tower to meet privately with Mr. Trump.

The Journal also had a seating chart (reproduced, without permission but not behind a paywall, at 9to5Mac, along with a photo where Tim Cook looks absolutely delighted to be there).

★ Thursday, 15 December 2016