Trump has met with 81 executives since being elected president - here's who made the cut

One of the main reasons Donald Trump won the presidency is because he convinced enough Americans that their country needed a successful businessperson at the helm, someone who knows how to make lucrative deals and who lacked political baggage.

The first 100 days in the White House have been an adjustment for Trump, who's never held elected office. However, during this transition he's regularly put himself in his element, talking business at tables full of executives.

He started holding these executive discussions shortly after he was elected in November, and invited some of Silicon Valley's biggest names to Trump Tower in December. For his first large meeting as president, he chose to sit down with a group of prominent American CEOs including SpaceX and Tesla's Elon Musk, Ford's Mark Fields, and Lockheed Martin's Marillyn Hewson.

Since his election, Trump has met with 81 executives to hear their thoughts on regulation, manufacturing, and trade. Looking at who the president has chosen to meet with offers insight into the direction he wants to take the country, as well as how he leads.