The world’s richest man, once deeply skeptical of Donald J. Trump, has now endorsed him and has emerged as a central character in the presidential race.
A little over two months ago, Elon Musk found himself at Montsorrel, the palatial Palm Beach compound of Nelson Peltz, the famed activist investor. Mr. Musk knew the sprawling grounds well, having stayed in the guesthouse.
The topic of conversation was a bit different than usual, though: Mr. Peltz had brought together a group of billionaire conservative financiers — including Steve Wynn, the Las Vegas casino magnate, and the hedge-funder John Paulson — to dive into concerns about whether Republicans could seize Senate control, as well as the party’s weak ground game, according to a person with direct knowledge of what transpired.
But Mr. Musk had a darker message that spring day. He told the group that this would be the last free election in America — because if President Biden won, millions of undocumented immigrants would be legalized and democracy would be finished, according to the person.
Mr. Trump had to win, Mr. Musk said. He dispensed some advice for the veteran financiers, who had decades more experience in Republican politics than he did: Their emphasis on political advertising was misplaced, he said. Tesla, his electric car company, barely advertises, he said, but had still built a cult following through word of mouth. Why couldn’t Republicans do the same?
The most important thing that the financiers could do, Mr. Musk said, was ask two people to support Mr. Trump, and urge them to ask two more. Two people by two people — that’s how the former president would win.
Mr. Musk has transformed himself from an idealistic supporter of Democrats like Barack Obama into a fierce ally of Mr. Trump, whom he flirted with for months and endorsed last weekend roughly 30 minutes after the former president survived an assassination attempt.