Intervening in the boardroom alone no longer seems to be enough for a good number of CEOs who are becoming increasingly vocal about politics. The most prominent example is Elon Musk, who publicly endorsed Donald Trump during the 2024 US presidential election campaign and later accepted a government role offered to him by the newly elected president. Is Musk an exception, or does his foray into politics reflect a broader trend among CEOs? Could the growing political involvement of business leaders threaten democracy? And could similar dynamics emerge in Europe?

During the 2024 US presidential campaign, Musk’s support for Donald Trump was hard to miss. The Tesla boss threw his full weight behind the Republican candidate on his social media platform X and at campaign rallies alike.

As is well known, the “bromance” between the two men came to a sudden end after Trump’s election, with Musk’s political engagement having mixed effects on his image and on the companies he leads. Soon afterwards, another media-savvy CEO, Marc Benioff, voiced support for Donald Trump’s agenda. The Salesforce CEO and owner of Time magazine praised Trump for doing “a great job” as president and backed his intention to deploy the National Guard in San Francisco, before partially backtracking.

This may surprise Europeans, who are used to their business leaders keeping a low profile on political matters. In the U.S., however, such interventions are far from unusual. They are part of a broader phenomenon that began attracting attention around ten years ago and has accelerated since then: CEO activism.

Our recent work focuses on this type of activism, examining how it can influence, and potentially jeopardise the proper functioning of democracy.

Since the mid-2010s, a growing number of American business leaders have entered political debates. They do so either by expressing their views on divisive issues often unrelated to their companies’ core business or by openly advocating for one of the two major parties that dominate US politics.

However, it would be wrong to think this behaviour is entirely new. American history offers several corporate leaders who could be described as “activist”. One early example is Henry Ford, founder and CEO of the car manufacturer that bears his name. In the first half of the 20th century, he made his political ideas widely known, notably through his anti-Semitic writings, and joined the America First........

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