Elon Musk isn’t the first businessman who’s tried to challenge America’s two-party system

Disillusioned by both the Republican and Democratic parties, a prominent businessman says he’s going to try something new and break up the two-party duopoly.

This year, it’s Elon Musk, who says he’s forming the “America Party” after his political alliance with President Donald Trump ended in spectacular fashion.

Four years ago, it was Andrew Yang. And a couple of years before that, it was former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz.

The two-party system has been a frequent target of American businessmen in recent decades.

And yet, the two parties are still standing.

Whether it’s forming a third party, launching an independent presidential bid, or some combination of the two, Musk may want to study the paths of those who came before him.

Here are three other prominent businessmen who’ve tried to challenge the two-party system.

Andrew Yang founded the Forward Party in 2021

Before Yang entered politics, he was an entrepreneur, launching a number of initiatives including Venture for America.

Yang ran for president as a Democrat in 2020, with his signature policy being a form of universal basic income that he called the “Freedom Dividend.” He was even endorsed by Musk.

He later ran for mayor of New York City in 2021, coming in 4th on the first round of voting at roughly 12%.

Months later, he founded the “Forward Party,” a centrist political party that prioritizes innovation, electoral reform, and a rejection of polarization.

A handful of state-level elected officials have affiliated with the Forward Party, and the party has endorsed several members of Congress, including Republican Sen. John Curtis of Utah and Democratic Rep. April McClain Delaney of Maryland.

Yang has been supportive of Musk’s nascent efforts to form a new political party.

“Anyone who wants to bust up the duopoly has the right idea,” Yang wrote on X on Sunday.

He also told POLITICO in June that he’d reached out to Musk about joining forces, though he hadn’t heard back.

“I don’t have to agree with everyone’s past decisions in order to agree that the primary mission has to be getting our political system back in a place where it’s actually responsive to both the views and the needs of the American people,” Yang told the outlet. “Right now, we don’t have that.”

Howard Schultz flirted with an independent 2020 presidential bid

Howard Schultz, the billionaire former CEO of Starbucks, explored a run for president as a centrist independent for almost a year in 2019.

While Schultz was mostly aligned with Democrats on the issues, he said at the time that he feared that the party was drifting too far to the left on economics and the role of government.

Early on in 2019, he acknowledged that there was a math problem, and many were concerned that his bid would draw support away from the Democratic nominee and help reelect Trump.

He ultimately decided against it in September 2019, writing in a letter to supporters: “My belief in the need to reform our two-party system has not wavered, but I have concluded that an independent campaign for the White House is not how I can best serve our country at this time.”

Ross Perot ran as an independent in 1992 and as part of the ‘Reform Party’ in 1996

Ross Perot, a billionaire businessman from Texas, was the most successful third-party presidential candidate in recent American history.

He ran in both 1992 and 1996, both times on a populist platform of eliminating the budget deficit, opposing certain free trade deals, enacting term limits, and pursuing campaign finance reform.

In 1992, he ran as an independent candidate, capturing almost 19% of the vote as Bill Clinton defeated President George H.W. Bush.

In 1996, he ran as the nominee of the “Reform Party,” which he founded the previous year to support his political movement. That year, he garnered just 8.4% of the vote.

The Reform Party ultimately outlasted Perot’s political career. Jesse Ventura won the 1998 Minnesota gubernatorial election as the party’s nominee, and Trump even considered seeking the party’s nomination in 2000.

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