Elon Musk, who is the richest individual in the world, gave over $250 million to campaign committees that back President-elect Donald Trump, with the majority of this amount contributed in the closing weeks of the 2024 presidential race, according to recent federal disclosures.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of the social media platform X, donated $238.5 million to America PAC, a prominent political action committee supporting Trump’s campaign, as reported in a Thursday filing to the Federal Election Commission. His donations included three consecutive $25 million contributions made each week in October.
The donations from Musk also included $40.5 million in contentious daily payments of $1 million to Trump supporters across seven key swing states. He described these payments as a kind of lottery for individuals who signed a petition endorsing the Constitution.
Federal regulations prohibit the buying of votes. However, a judge in Pennsylvania dismissed Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s effort to stop Musk’s daily $1 million giveaways.
Elon Musk, along with Vivek Ramaswamy, who is set to co-lead Trump’s proposed new Department of Government Efficiency, walked through Capitol Hill with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., the day they met with Congress members, as Musk carried his son on his shoulders in Washington on December 5, 2024.
Lisa Gilbert, co-president of the watchdog organization Public Citizen, criticized Musk’s financial support for Trump as “obscene.”
“We found out that Elon Musk contributed an astonishing $250 million to place Donald Trump in the presidency,” Gilbert stated on Friday. “We witnessed wealthy billionaires and corporate funds dominate the 2024 election. They highlighted the urgent need for robust campaign finance reforms to cleanse our political system of big money.”
Since taking office, Trump has appointed Musk as an advisor for reducing government expenditures, making him co-leader of the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency. Musk has been engaging with lawmakers on Capitol Hill in Washington this week in preparation for Trump’s inauguration on January 20, aiming to eliminate $2 trillion from a federal budget of $6.75 trillion.
“I believe it’s essential to ensure that we wisely allocate the public’s funds,” Musk told reporters on Thursday, though he stopped short of providing any specifics.
