The staggering $446m Elon Musk has spent on the US midterms – visualized

Elon Musk has poured so much money into US politics this midterms election cycle that his donations could fund half a dozen SpaceX rocket launches or buy thousands of Tesla Cybertrucks. At the Tesla Diner in Los Angeles, Musk could order more than 31.9m cheeseburgers with the money he has spent on the midterms.

Musk, the world’s richest person, has funnelled at least $445.77m into Republican-aligned political action committees (Pacs) 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 and the largest single-cycle political donor in modern US history.

Musk’s spending is a staggering example of the SpaceX and Tesla CEO’s political influence, as he seeks to help Donald Trump’s administration retain control of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections, though current polls predict Democrats achieving a majority. The contributions are at a scale that is difficult to fathom and dwarf efforts from big name megadonors like George Soros or Michael Bloomberg, setting a new precedent for how the rich and powerful attempt to shape politics.

Only last year, Musk claimed he would step away from making large scale political donations after putting nearly $300m towards Trump’s 2024 presidential election campaign. FEC data since then shows he has not only leaned back into financing campaigns, but that his spending has dramatically ramped up as election day approaches, increasing by about $200m in the final two months of campaigning.

Musk’s money has primarily flowed into several Republican-aligned Super Pacs, with his largest contribution of $216m going into his own America Pac. The Pac has targeted 43 House and Senate races across the US, blanketting 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. The spending varies greatly depending on the state, however, with campaigns in battlegrounds such as Michigan and Arizona receiving more of the Pac’s support.

Musk’s Pac has spent the most in his 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 overall poured more than $33m into efforts to elect Paxton, while Musk also made a $168m 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, often accusing them of being radical socialists or targeting them over supporting transgender rights. The Pac has spent $28m on anti-Talarico content, including between $300,000 and 350,000 in October on a single Google ad targeting the Texas Senate candidate.

“James Talarico supports parents being charged with child abuse if they do not support transitioning their children,” stated the ad, which was shown more than 10m times over an eight day period.

Musk has also reposted America Pac’s content to his more than 200m followers on X, the social media platform he owns. One of Musk’s posts in October amplified an America Pac attack ad and claimed: “Talarico wants to trans your kids and destroy the border.”

The nearly $446m that Musk has donated this election cycle far exceeds his contributions in the 2024 presidential race, when the tech mogul also held rallies and appeared on stage next to Trump during the campaign. While Musk has been a less visible presence in the midterms, potentially reflecting the US public’s dislike of him, behind the scenes he has greatly upped his financial support for Republicans.

Musk’s spending far outpaces all other donors in the elections, including fellow tech and finance moguls like Marc Andreessen, who also started his own Super Pac. Musk has put more money into this election cycle than what 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 intertwined itself into the government more extensively, landing lucrative contracts this year for Trump’s missile defense program and the use of Musk’s Grok AI chatbot in the Pentagon.

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