Tech Billionaires as Political Forces: Markus Scholz in a WDR Interview

What dangers does liberal democracy face when individual technology entrepreneurs increasingly exert geopolitical influence? Prof. Dr. Markus Scholz, holder of the Chair of Responsible Management at TU Dresden, discussed this topic with WDR editor Wolfgang Landmesser on October 26, 2026.

The interview takes as its starting point the strategic significance of Elon Musk’s satellite internet service, Starlink, for Ukraine. Scholz sees this as an example of a fundamental shift in the relationship between business and politics: entrepreneurs like Musk or Peter Thiel now possess levers of power that were previously largely reserved for states. At the same time, some of these entrepreneurs increasingly view themselves as political stakeholders whose meritocratic and libertarian visions of society are at odds with the fundamental principles of liberal democracies.

Historically, such an intertwining of economic and political power is by no means new. The interview cites the Fugger and Medici merchant families, as well as the industrialist Krupp, as examples. Scholz emphasizes, however, that the Enlightenment, liberal democracy, and the social market economy gave rise to institutional frameworks designed specifically to protect individual freedom from excessive concentration of power. The political power wielded today by individual tech billionaires once again calls these achievements into question.

As political countermeasures, Scholz advocates for a more consistent competition policy, limits on the concentration of economic power, and the reduction of strategic dependencies in critical infrastructure, particularly in the fields of space exploration, artificial intelligence, and security technologies. For Europe, he says, building greater strategic autonomy is crucial.

The interview thus addresses central questions of corporate social responsibility and the relationship between economic power and democratic order.

Read the full interview: Business ethics expert Markus Scholz on the power of entrepreneurs – WDR, October 26, 2026