Elon Musk spent at least 474 million dollars of his fortune attempting to buy Republicans a favourable outcome in the 2026 midterms, but his chosen candidates lost far more races than they won, according to analyses published on Thursday.
According to CNBC, Musk spent at least 474 million dollars backing Republicans, including nearly 100 million dollars through his America PAC, which tried to pick winners in 44 separate races. By Wednesday morning, candidates backed by the PAC had lost 29 contests and won just three, with 12 still uncalled.
WIRED offered an even more devastating analysis, finding that more than 99 cents of every dollar spent by Musk went to a race his chosen candidate lost. Forbes found that 106 House and Senate races had received financial support from Musk-backed groups, with 44 candidates losing and 18 winning as of early Wednesday, and 44 races still uncalled.
Texas was the biggest loss
One of Musk’s largest investments was in Texas, where approximately 224 million dollars was directed towards Republican efforts, according to reports. Around 212 million dollars went towards supporting Republican Ken Paxton’s unsuccessful Senate campaign against Democrat James Talarico, including contributions routed through the Senate Leadership Fund and spending by America PAC.
Democrats not only flipped the Texas Senate seat but also won races for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general, according to reports. Musk’s X account went unusually dark on Tuesday evening as results rolled in, according to the Horton-Kaiser briefing.
Companies take a hit
To make matters worse for the world’s richest man, his companies took a hit on the stock market on Wednesday, wiping out an estimated 120 billion dollars in value, according to Bloomberg. Tesla and SpaceX shares fell overnight, while broader technology stocks came under pressure.
The spending makes Musk one of the largest individual political donors in American electoral history, according to the New York Times. But the results suggest that money alone cannot buy elections, and that voters rejected the candidates he backed.
