Aisha Tukur
Zander Mundy was midway through a typical day at his office when he heard the news: tech billionaire Elon Musk was speaking at a nearby school in the town of Folsom, in the US state of Pennsylvania.
“When is the richest guy in the world in town often?” Mr Mundy remembers thinking to himself.
With a population of just under 9,000 people, Folsom is a quiet place. Residents typically shy away from speaking openly about their politics, and political yard signs are few and far between.
The 21-year-old Mr Mundy, who works at a leasing agent at an apartment complex, admits that he wasn’t planning on voting in the November election.
But once he saw crowds forming – and felt the excitement – he decided to go in, eager to hear from Musk.
By the time he left the school, he recalls leaning more towards Donald Trump than towards Kamala Harris.
“[If] someone like that tells you this is the election that’s going to decide our future, not only who’s president for the next four years but what the world world is going to be like… I think that’s pretty huge,” he told the BBC. “That matters. That’s significant.”
Musk, who previously cultivated an image as an eccentric tech genius who was only on the sidelines of politics, has now pledged full allegiance to Trump.
In full view of the American public, the 53-year-old has invested his time, operational know-how and ample pocketbook into trying to get the Republican elected – a rarity among the nation’s business elite who traditionally prefer to influence politics from behind the scenes.
It’s an approach that is starkly different to traditional CEOs, many of whom have been better known for holding expensive, exclusive fundraising dinners or hosting potential donors at lavish homes in the Hamptons.
And it’s prompted observers to ask questions about Mr Musk’s motivations.
The traditional approach by CEOs is “not out in the public spotlight,” explains Erik Gordon, chair of the entrepreneurship department at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. But “Musk does it loudly and proudly, and, therefore, perhaps makes himself a lightning rod”.
Musk’s Trump-supporting political action committee – America PAC – has already spent more than $119m (£91.6m) this election cycle, according to Open Secrets, a non-profit tracker.
Additionally, Musk’s own contributions make him one of the largest individual donors in the presidential race, and reportedly play a vital role in Trump’s door-knocking and ground operation in key swing states in which the campaign hopes to mobilise voters.
Steve Davis, a key lieutenant of Musk’s who has worked for his companies including SpaceX, X and the Boring Company, has reportedly been recruited to help in the effort.
