By Ellen Milligan
King Charles III gathered leaders of some of the world’s biggest companies to encourage US-UK investment, as he swung through New York as part of a state visit aimed at shoring up ties between the two allies.
Charles met senior executives from Bank of America Corp., Blackstone Inc., Comcast Corp., Alphabet Inc.’s Google, JPMorgan Chase & Co., OpenAI and Tishman Speyer during a gathering at Rockefeller Center on Wednesday. Representatives from GSK Plc, Octopus Energy Group Ltd. and Rolls-Royce Plc also attended the event designed to showcase US-UK commercial ties across the creative, energy, healthcare, financial services and technology industries.
The British monarch and his wife, Queen Camilla, focused on economic and cultural exchanges on the third day of a visit timed to mark the 250th anniversary of America’s independence. Earlier, Charles was joined by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg while paying his respects at the memorial to the Sept. 11 attacks.
The trip to America’s financial capital follows a day of pageantry in Washington, DC, which saw Charles meet President Donald Trump at the White House and address a joint session of Congress. He attended a state banquet alongside Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos, Apple Inc.’s Tim Cook, Nvidia Corp.’s Jensen Huang, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and Blackstone Inc.’s Steve Schwarzman.
Trump on Wednesday, however, reiterated his complaints about UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s refusal to commit resources to the US-led conflict with Iran, even as he heaped praise on Charles. Still, the president acknowledged that “when you like the king of a country so much, it probably helps your relationship with the prime minister.”
In an usually pointed speech to Congress on Tuesday, Charles urged US lawmakers to reject isolationism and maintain America’s leadership in the world. He said that ideals the two countries shared, such as the rule of law and an independent judiciary, had provided a foundation for shared prosperity.
“This is why our governments are concluding new economic and technology agreements – to write the next chapter of our joint prosperity and ensure that British and American ingenuity continues to lead the world,” Charles said.
The UK and US invest $1.7 trillion in each other’s economies and enjoy $430 billion worth of two-way trade annually. Earlier on Wednesday, Starmer announced that AstraZeneca Plc would invest £300 million ($400 million) in British life sciences, crediting an agreement with the US that spurred an increase in UK spending on drugs.
Alphabet’s Ruth Porat, Barclays Plc’s CS Venkatakrishnan, Bank of America Corp.’s Brian Moynihan and BP Plc’s Meg O’Neill were among the executives who greeted the king’s arrival at Rockefeller Center.
Comcast Corp. Chairman Brian Roberts, whose company’s holdings include NBCUniversal and Sky, said the two countries “share a deep commitment to creativity and innovation.” Schwarzman, whose Blackstone has committed to investing £100 billion in the UK over the next decade, said he was “proud to support a stronger UK-US partnership that drives jobs, innovation and shared prosperity.”