Apple spent more lobbying Washington last year than it ever has before. Still, its spending was dwarfed by the likes of Google and Facebook.
Apple shelled out $7.4 million in lobbying expenses in 2019, according to MarketWatch. That’s up from $6.7 million in 2018 and $7.2 million the year before.
Its top lobbying efforts since last January were related to the US relationship with China, according to OpenSecrets.org. Not surprising, given the trade war between the two countries. Apple CEO Tim Cook had direct talks with President Trump on this issue as well.
In the fall, the company retained Jeffrey Miller, former vice finance chairman of Trump’s inaugural committee prior to becoming a fundraiser for President Trump’s reelection campaign, to lobby for it. And it recently hired an expert lobbyist on drone aviation.
The iPhone maker reportedly has a team of in-house lobbyists as well.
Other tech companies spend much more on lobbying
Apple’s rival Alphabet/Google spent $11.8 million on lobbyists in 2019 reports MarketWatch. And that’s down from $21.7 million the previous year.
Facebook put down the most of the tech giants to persuade legislators: $16.7 million last year. And Amazon was a close second at $16.1 million.
