Tesla CEO Elon Musk donated $289,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee in August, according to its report filed with the Federal Election Commission on Friday. It is the largest single political donation ever from the Silicon Valley magnate, whose fortune is estimated to exceed $250 billion, making him the richest person in the world according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. It is the latest in a series of actions that have cemented Musk’s position in right-wing politics.
In May of this year, Musk founded America PAC, a Super PAC backing Donald Trump, whom he endorsed on July 13th. On July 16th, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing anonymous sources, that Musk was pouring $45 million into the PAC per month, an assertion that the owner of X (formerly Twitter) called “ridiculous” in a post on his social media platform, explaining that he was “making donations […] at a much lower level.” In that same post, he described the PAC’s key values as “supporting meritocracy & individual freedom.” Musk only publicly revealed his involvement with America PAC on July 22nd, in an interview with right-wing Youtuber Jordan Peterson. The size and frequency of his donations to America PAC are not public information. Politico speculates that it is “likely” Musk has donated more to America PAC than the NRCC.
This is the first presidential election cycle in which Musk has devoted significant resources to a campaign and political party. The founder of SpaceX endorsed Andrew Yang in 2019, and has stated that he voted for Joe Biden in 2020 and Hillary Clinton in 2016. Public records show scant political spending during this time, with small donations to centrist Democratic and Republican incumbents during the 2020 election cycle.
Musk delved further into the political arena through his opposition to lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, calling them “fascist” on a call with investors in April 2020, and eventually deciding to move Tesla’s headquarters to Texas in response to California’s pandemic restrictions. Over the next year, he donated exclusively to Republican Party-linked groups in a series of small donations of less than $500 each. By 2022, Musk was promoting the party on X, stating that he “recommend[s] voting for a Republican for Congress, given that the Presidency is Democratic,” and calling Democrats the party of “division and hate.” In 2023, he used X to boost the presidential campaign Republican Florida governor Ron DeSantis, streaming his official announcement in the form of a live interview on Twitter Spaces (which was famously plagued by severe technical issues).
Over the same period, the South-African-born financier developed a frosty relationship with Joe Biden’s White House, due to differences on various issues ranging from labor rights to foreign affairs. Musk has found himself particularly at odds with American interests in Ukraine, at one point thwarting a major drone attack on Russian warships by shutting down Starlink, the Musk-owned satellite internet service that the Ukrainian armed forces rely on in the field of battle. It was recently revealed that some of the funds gathered by Musk to acquire Twitter are linked to Russian oligarchs sanctioned by the US.
Returning to the current election, Kamala Harris’ campaign has raised over four times as much cash as Donald Trump’s for the month of August, $190 million to $44.5 million. Musk’s recent donations to the NRCC demonstrate a commitment to the party overall, but for the presidential contest, it is the as-of-yet unknown extent of his support for America PAC that will be far more decisive.
