Why is Elon Musk starting the America Party? What social science tells us about why billionaires run for office

Following a well-publicized split with President Trump, tech billionaire Elon Musk has announced that he is launching a new political party. Nikhil Kalyanpur writes that there is nothing new about businesspeople going into politics: elected office can increase their businesses’ value and profits. What is new is that billionaires like Musk are now more likely to enter politics in autocratic settings, which America is increasingly resembling.