Hollywood Stars, High-Tech Titans Pitch in for Obama Inauguration

Hollywood stars and high-tech honchos are opening up their wallets to help pay for Barack Obama's inauguration party -- and the president-elect is making all of their names public.

Film powerhouses including Steven Spielberg and Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg both dished out the maximum possible donation of $50,000, and their wives chipped in for matching amounts.

A list of donors, kept online at Obama's inauguration Web site, shows they're keeping some pretty famous company, Agence France-Presse reported. Actresses Halle Berry and Sharon Stone and actor Jamie Foxx gave the maximum $50,000 donation, too.

Click here to see the full list of donors.

Obama vowed to release the names of all those giving, hoping to clear politics of influence peddling at a time when the governor of Illinois is being charged with trying to sell Obama's now-vacant Senate seat.

The fund is also attracting big contributions from titans of the high-tech industry, AFP reported.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt, co-founder Larry Page and vice president Marissa Mayer all gave big gifts to the fund, as did Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and his wife Connie, who each pitched in for $50,000.

Five members of the family of billionaire financier and philanthropist George Soros racked up $250,000 between them.

The fund is required to pay for the giant number of balls and commemorative events on and around the Jan. 20 inauguration. Big spenders can expect special ticket privileges and VIP access to events, AFP reported.

Click here for more from the AFP.