Voters Set $400 Million of Elon Musk’s Money on Fire
Wired · Dell Cameron ·
Elon Musk almost single-handedly funded the Republican midterms push. But of every traceable dollar Musk put into races that have been decided, more than 99 cents went to a race he lost.
Shortly after 1 am, Musk posted twice: “Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now,” he wrote first. About a minute later, he added, “Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn’t work this time” with a shrug emoji.
By Wednesday morning, candidates backed by Musk’s America PAC had lost 20 races and won only one, with 21 uncalled, according to a WIRED analysis of election data. Tesla and SpaceX stocks have plunged in value.
Musk and his PAC spent more than $400 million since Trump retook office backing Republican candidates—nearly $87 million of it on ads targeting 42 midterm races. He also funneled more than $229 million into other political groups, chiefly the main Republican super PACs for the House and Senate, along with smaller ones formed to fight single races in Kentucky and Texas.