Musk Has Spent $446 Million on the US Midterms, Becoming the Largest Single-Cycle Donor in Modern History

Elon Musk has funnelled at least $445.77 million into Republican-aligned political action committees and groups since last year, according to US Federal Election Commission data as of 29 October. The contributions have made him the Republicans' most prominent financial backer.

The spending has also made the SpaceX and Tesla chief executive, the world's richest person, the largest single-cycle political donor in modern US history.

Musk is seeking to help Donald Trump's administration retain control of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections, though current polls predict Democrats achieving a majority, the report noted.

Only last year, Musk claimed he would step away from large-scale political donations after putting nearly $300 million towards Trump's 2024 presidential election campaign. FEC data since then shows he has leaned back into financing campaigns, with his spending increasing by about $200 million in the final two months of campaigning.

Musk's money has primarily flowed into several Republican-aligned Super Pacs, with his largest contribution of $216 million going into his own America Pac.

America Pac has targeted 43 House and Senate races across the US, blanketing voters with television commercials, digital ads, text messages and mailers.

America Pac made 839 independent expenditures in House races and 623 in Senate races in 17 states across the country. Spending varies by state, with battlegrounds such as Michigan and Arizona receiving more of the Pac's support.

The Pac has spent the most in Musk's home state of Texas, where a closely fought Senate contest between Democratic candidate James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton has turned into the most expensive race of the midterms. America Pac has poured more than $33 million into efforts to elect Paxton, while Musk also made a $168 million contribution to the Senate Leadership Fund, which supports the Paxton campaign.

A large portion of America Pac's output focuses on attack ads against Democratic candidates such as Talarico. The Pac has spent $28 million on anti-Talarico content, including between $300,000 and $350,000 in October on a single Google ad that was shown more than 10 million times over an eight-day period.

Musk has also reposted America Pac's content to his more than 200 million followers on X, the social media platform he owns, amplifying one of its attack ads in October.

The nearly $446 million Musk has donated this election cycle far exceeds his contributions in the 2024 presidential race. While he has been a less visible presence in the midterms, behind the scenes he has greatly increased his financial support for Republicans.

Musk's spending far outpaces all other donors in the elections, including fellow tech and finance figures such as Marc Andreessen, who also started his own Super Pac. Musk has put more money into this election cycle than every top Silicon Valley donor, including himself, spent on the 2024 presidential election combined.

The stakes of the midterm elections are potentially high for Musk, who has closely aligned himself with the Trump administration and benefited from its lax policies toward regulating tech and artificial intelligence. SpaceX has also landed lucrative contracts this year for Trump's missile defense program and for the use of Musk's Grok AI chatbot in the Pentagon, the report said.

Despite the immense and unprecedented scale of the political spending, his contributions this election are still only a tiny fraction of the centibillionaire's overall assets.