• JPMorgan Chase tells Insider it won't donate to President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration. The company will instead give $100,000 each to charities in California, Delaware, and Washington, DC.
  • The Biden inaugural committee is soliciting corporate contributions of up to $1 million. Airplane maker Boeing confirmed it'll give the maximum amount.
  • Corporations, unions, and other special interests that give Biden's inauguration committee $1 million would be entitled to numerous perks, including virtual facetime with President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Banking giant JPMorgan Chase will not give money to President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, the company told Insider on Wednesday. 

It's a shift from the last inauguration when the company donated $500,000 to President Donald Trump's 2017 inauguration, according to federal records. It did not contribute to Obama's 2013 inauguration.

JPMorgan's decision comes as other companies line up to donate to Biden's inauguration, which is inviting corporations to contribute up to $1 million despite promising a significantly scaled-down event.

Instead, the biggest US bank by assets, said it will contribute $300,000 to charities that help feed people in need.

Patricia Wexler, a spokesperson for JPMorgan said the company made the decision "given the hardships facing communities and the demand on food banks" during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Wexler declined to comment on whether the Biden inauguration committee directly solicited the company for a donation. She also would not say whether JPMorgan informed Biden's team of its decision.

Aerospace giant Boeing has pledged $1 million to Biden's inauguration, and companies including Bank of America, Ford, UPS, and Aflac have also told Insider they intend to contribute.  

JPMorgan will contribute $100,000 to food banks in each of three cities: Biden's home city of Wilmington, Delaware; Vice President-elect Kamala Harris' home city of Oakland, California; and Washington, DC. The bank did not say which food banks will receive the money.

Federal records indicate that JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon made a $50,000 personal contribution to President Barack Obama's 2009 presidential inauguration. And former JPMorgan official Bill Daley, who'd later become Obama's chief of staff, also contributed $50,000 at the time. Obama did not accept corporate contributions for his first inauguration and that year capped individual contributions at $50,000.

JPMorgan wields big influence

JPMorgan ranks among the more notable political power players in Washington, spending near the $3 million mark on federal lobbying efforts in each of the past several years, according to disclosures filed with Congress.

The bank hasn't been quiet since Election Day on November 3, either.

On the Saturday after Election Day, Dimon urged Americans to unite behind Biden as president. 

"Now is a time for unity. We must respect the results of the US presidential election and, as we have with every election, honor the decision of the voters and support a peaceful transition of power," he told Fox Business News.

Earlier this month, JPMorgan sent the Biden transition team a series of policy recommendations for how to avert economic misery and reduce post-coronavirus pandemic inequality, CNBC reported.

Corporations, unions, or other special interests that contribute $1 million to Biden's festivities earn inauguration "chair" status and a host of exclusive perks, including invitations to a "virtual event" with Biden, Harris, and their spouses, according to an inauguration sponsorship document obtained December 16 by several media organizations.

Other listed perks include a signed "virtual" photos with Biden, Harris, and their spouses and virtual briefings with presidential inauguration committee co-chairs, senior leaders, and former Biden campaign leaders.

Representatives for the president-elect's inaugural committee did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Biden said in early December that the COVID-19 pandemic will cause his January 20 inauguration and related festivities, such as exclusive dinners and balls, to be significantly different affairs from the usual funfair. But his inauguration committee has not revealed details of its plans.

The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, which oversees the swearing-in ceremony, has since confirmed that the ceremony itself will be notably scaled down from past inaugurations.

"It is highly unlikely that there will be a million people on the mall, going all the way down to the [Lincoln] Memorial," Biden said. "My guess is that there will not be a gigantic inaugural parade down Pennsylvania Avenue, but my guess is you'll see a lot of virtual activity in states all across America, engaging even more people than before."

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