(NewsNation) — The strategic seating of several prominent tech leaders who were perched behind President Donald Trump during his inauguration could foreshadow their potential hand in his administration, some political analysts say. 

The heads of the largest companies were spotted at his inauguration Monday.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Apple head Tim Cook and Google chief Sundar Pichai all attended the inauguration service at St. John’s Church in Washington and were later seen seated together in the second row behind Trump’s family. 

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was also in attendance, with the inauguration occurring one day after the video-sharing platform went dark in the U.S., though he was not seated with the other tech leaders at the Capitol rotunda.

“They [tech leaders] got some of the most prominent positions there, and it seems like Donald Trump was trying to send a message of some kind,” NewsNation Chief Washington Correspondent and host of “The Hill” Blake Burman said. 

Niall Stanage, White House columnist for The Hill, also noticed the priority seating.

“I think visually, one of the most striking things was the prominence of so many tech executives, much more prominent than most members of Congress or even the proposed members of President Trump’s Cabinet,” he said. 

Trump Cabinet nominees all sat behind the tech titans during the president’s inaugural lunch.

Musk is not a surprising guest as he will co-lead the new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

The billionaire owns Tesla, SpaceX and the social media platform X and has become Trump’s close friend in recent years.

The executives or their companies had all donated hefty sums to Trump’s inauguration fund, which likely garnered the prime locations.

“Things in Washington are changing. This is a different town when Donald Trump walked in here,” NewsNation’s Leland Vittert said, referring in part to the seating chart.

A number of Republican governors, including Greg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida and many spouses of members of Congress, were relegated to an overflow room in Emancipation Hall due to the limited space in the Capitol rotunda, reported The Hill. 

Democrats denounced the seating decision.

“Big Tech billionaires have a front row seat at Trump’s inauguration. They have even better seats than Trump’s own Cabinet picks. That says it all,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, wrote on the social platform X.

“All you need to know. The billionaires are in charge. Not you,” Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut wrote on X.

Some Republicans privately were miffed, the outlet reported.

“I didn’t like that,” one GOP lawmaker told The Hill.

“Why is Zuckerberg all of a sudden in our fold? My concern is, if we hadn’t won, where would he be? Would he be on the other team?” a second GOP lawmaker said. “At least Elon was in the fight.”