Sitting in a fellow billionaire’s box at the Pittsburgh Steelers-Dallas Cowboys game in Pittsburgh on Sunday, tech mogul and prominent Donald Trump supporter Elon Musk had a surprise phone call with Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, according to three people familiar with the conversation.
Musk told Shapiro he wants to invest in Pennsylvania, specifically the Pittsburgh area, two of the sources said. He was in the early stages of the idea but expressed interest in expanding his factories to the region.
Politically, Musk and Shapiro are unlikely allies. Musk has become one of Trump’s most prominent, and deep-pocketed, supporters. His super PAC, America PAC, is handling much of the get-out-the-vote operation backing Trump, and Musk himself is set to campaign more in the critical state of Pennsylvania in the final weeks of the election. The travel was first reported by Politico and confirmed to NBC News by a person familiar with the effort.
Shapiro was on Vice President Kamala Harris’ short list to be her running mate, but he was ultimately passed over for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. He has been on the trail as a surrogate for Harris in the battleground state, and he spoke at the Democratic National Convention.
Both Democrats and Republicans consider Pennsylvania key to winning the election, and Musk's call came as the candidates and their surrogates are spending more time in the state.
Musk was sitting in the box of Thomas Tull, the Hollywood producer-turned-investor who brokered the conversation. Tull is a part-owner of the Steelers and a principal investor in an $81 million project to bring manufacturing to western Pennsylvania. He and Musk were introduced several years ago by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and struck up a relationship, according to two of the people familiar with the conversation.
McCarthy was at a New York Yankees game with Tull on Saturday, the day Musk spoke at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Knowing Musk was going to be in the state the next day, McCarthy suggested the two billionaires watch the game together in Tull’s box, said one of the sources with knowledge of the discussions.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has soured on California because of ideological and political differences, and he has been looking for alternative locations for investment. Two of the people familiar with the conversation said Musk’s conversation with Tull turned to Tull’s economic development efforts in Pennsylvania and the pool of talent from the education hubs around Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh.
Musk was impressed, the sources said, and expressed interest in taking a page from Tull’s playbook. Tull then called Shapiro and put Musk on the phone for the short call.
America PAC and Shapiro's office did not provide comments for this piece.
