Demolition crews finished tearing down the White House’s East Wing to make way for a massive ballroom — one that President Donald Trump said would be paid for by himself and private donors.
The White House released a list of 37 donors on Thursday, and one person helping to fund the ballroom is Konstantin Sokolov, a Russian-born entrepreneur who is the head of a Chicago-based private equity firm.
Many of the names come from industries such as technology and cryptocurrency like Coinbase, Tether, Apple, Google and Meta. Cryptocurrency companies have seen major benefits under the Trump administration through policies and executive orders. Trump’s family has amassed billions through cryptocurrency ventures.
Other companies on the list, like Microsoft and Google, have received lucrative White House contracts for their AI and cloud tools, while firms like Palantir and Lockheed Martin have recently secured billions in new and expanded contracts with the government.
It’s unclear how much each donor contributed, though Paolo Tiramani, CEO of Las Vegas-based modular home manufacturer Boxabl, said he donated $10 million in stock to the nonprofit Trust for the National Mall, which is managing donations for the project.
Sokolov founded IJS Investments in 2006. The private equity firm focuses on investing in infrastructure, technology and finance companies.
He’s a major shareholder in one of Armenia’s largest mobile and telecommunication company, Viva. Sokolov also serves as chairman of the Northern Pillar Energy Consortium, an initiative to increase the supply of renewable energy between Africa and Europe, according to IJS Investments’s website.
IJS Investments didn’t respond to requests for comment.
In April, Sokolov donated $100 million to the University of Chicago for its executive MBA program at the Booth School of Business. It was among the largest-ever donations to Booth, and the program was renamed the Sokolov Executive MBA Program.
“I am deeply honored by the school’s decision to give my name to its world-leading Executive MBA Program. Two decades after my graduation, the lessons I learned, the experiences I gained, and the friendships I forged at Booth remain the foundation of my career and my life,” Sokolov said in an April news release.
He previously donated $1.5 million to Booth, which helped fund improvements to the student lounge at Booth’s downtown campus, the Gleacher Center.
Sokolov received his executive MBA from Booth. He also has a master’s degree from St. Petersburg State University. He moved the U.S. in 1997, at 21, according to a University of Chicago news release.
Sokolovis is married with two daughters and has homes in Miami, Switzerland and Malta, but he comes to Chicago about six times a year, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The White House ballroom would be approximately 90,000 square feet, with a seated capacity of 650 people. Designed by Washington, D.C.-based McCrery Architects, construction is expected to finish before the end of Trump’s term in 2029, according to the White House.
Trump estimated the project would cost $300 million and seat nearly 1,000 people, up from the administration’s initial estimate in July of $200 million with seating for 650.
The project has drawn criticism among historic preservationists and raised questions about whether the administration has the legal authority to demolish the East Wing.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to say how much money Trump has personally committed to the project at a Thursday press briefing but said the administration would share a dollar figure at a later point.
Here’s the list of individuals and companies helping to pay for the ballroom:
- Altria Group
- Amazon
- Apple
- Booz Allen Hamilton
- Caterpillar
- Coinbase
- Comcast Corp.
- J. Pepe and Emilia Fanjul
- Hard Rock International
- HP
- Lockheed Martin
- Meta Platforms
- Micron Technology
- Microsoft
- NextEra Energy
- Palantir Technologies
- Ripple
- Reynolds American
- T-Mobile
- Tether America
- Union Pacific Railroad
- Adelson Family Foundation
- Stefan E. Brodie
- Betty Wold Johnson Foundation
- Charles and Marissa Cascarilla
- Edward and Shari Glazer
- Harold Hamm
- Benjamin Leon Jr.
- The Lutnick Family
- The Laura & Isaac Perlmutter Foundation
- Stephen A. Schwarzman
- Konstantin Sokolov
- Kelly Loeffler and Jeff Sprecher
- Paolo Tiramani
- Cameron Winklevoss
- Tyler Winklevoss
