- As the Donald Trump–Elon Musk axis disintegrated spectacularly on Thursday, billionaires and investors were among the many who were transfixed by the public spat. During the melee, Musk posted a poll on X asking if it was time to create a new political party, drawing an endorsement from Mark Cuban, who has previously eyed a third party as well.
During the heat of battle as Elon Musk publicly feuded with President Donald Trump on Thursday, the tech billionaire posted a poll on his social media platform X asking if it’s time for a new political party.
That drew an endorsement from fellow billionaire Mark Cuban, who re-posted the poll and added three check marks.
Entrepreneur Andrew Yang, who ran for president in 2020 and later cofounded the Forward Party, reposted Cuban and then floated a notional 2028 presidential primary that includes Cuban and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon as well as other names like Matthew McConaughey and Oprah Winfrey.
Cuban was a top surrogate for then–Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 campaign but has flirted with third-party politics, though he has yet to run for office.
In 2020, Cuban revealed he seriously considered running for president as an independent and even hired a pollster, but said he had long odds and his family was against the idea.
Last year, Cuban confirmed he had past conversations with No Labels, a bipartisan group that sought ballot access for a third-party presidential campaign.
He decided against a White House run, citing his family again, but told NBC News at the time, “I think the two-party system is broken.”
While Cuban and Musk were on opposite ends of the 2024 race, the Shark Tank star was among the first to admit defeat on election night in November, and even congratulated Musk.
To be sure, Cuban has continued to speak out against Trump’s policies, but said in February he has no plans to make his own political run in the near future, telling an audience of anti-Trump conservatives, “Hell no. It’s not going to happen.”
Meanwhile, other billionaires and investors weighed on in the Musk-Trump spat.
Pershing Square CEO Bill Ackman posted on X that he supports both men and that “they should make peace for the benefit of our great country. We are much stronger together than apart.”
And longtime Tesla investor Ross Gerber lamented Thursday that shareholders had seen $140 billion in market cap wiped out as the stock sold off, nearly matching what Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) claimed to have saved the federal government in cuts.
On Friday, Gerber said on X that Trump is vindictive and does not forget when he’s been slighted.
“This doesn’t get solved other than Elon groveling back and publicly apologizing,” he added.
