Tesla's charismatic billionaire CEO is increasingly weighing in on politics and geopolitics.
Elon Musk does not hide it: He will wield his media influence and financial power in the midterm elections in November and the race for the White House leading to November 2024.
Tesla's charismatic and whimsical chief executive has more than 103.3 million Twitter followers, giving him a massive platform and megaphone to sway public opinion and influence potential voters.
Musk has also pledged to personally spend $20 million to $25 million to support his favorite candidate in the presidential election.
The serial entrepreneur's fortune is estimated at $268 billion as of Aug. 15, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He is thus the only person whose fortune exceeds $200 billion. The net worth of Jeff Bezos, the world's second richest man, is estimated at $167 billion in the same benchmark.
Musk Is Republican ... for Now
With these two powerful weapons -- money and charisma -- Musk has become increasingly political. But he also risks alienating buyers and would-be buyers of Tesla vehicles, who often live in and around major Democratic-Party-leaning cities.
Indeed, the mogul recently let on that he will vote Republican in November, and he predicted a red wave in the midterm elections.
"I voted for Mayra Flores – first time I ever voted Republican," Musk posted on Twitter on June 15. "Massive red wave in 2022."
The same day, the billionaire had indicated that he was leaning toward the Republican governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, as the conservative candidate for the presidential election of 2024.
Criticized last month by former President Donald Trump, who has ambitions to run again, Musk reiterated his backing of DeSantis and urged the former president to retire from politics and give way to younger people.
Trump would be 82 at end of term, which is too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America," the tech titan responded on July 11. "If DeSantis runs against Biden in 2024, then DeSantis will easily win – he doesn’t even need to campaign.