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Elon Musk responds after his record $474 million Republicans bet ends in disaster
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Elon Musk set an unprecedented financial milestone during the midterm elections by pouring at least $474 million into Republican campaigns.
The massive sum represented the largest amount of cash ever contributed by a single donor in an American election cycle.
Musk directed a major portion of those resources toward candidates in Texas, the state he chose as his primary home in 2020 after relocating the headquarters of Tesla, SpaceX, and X there.
Despite that historic financial backing, the election results produced an extensive blue tsunami across the country. Democrats successfully regained control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The outcomes in Musk's adopted home state proved particularly dramatic. James Talarico defeated Ken Paxton to become the first Texas Democrat elected to the Senate in 36 years, while Gina Hinojosa scored an upset victory over incumbent Greg Abbott to capture the Texas governor's mansion.
The political blowback quickly rattled financial markets. Early Wednesday morning, shares of both SpaceX and Tesla tumbled around 6 percent in premarket trading as investors reacted to the shifting legislative landscape.
Reactions from the social media platform
Musk took to X to respond to the election fallout with humor. He joked: "Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn't work this time" while adding a shrug emoji.
In a separate post, he wrote: "Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now." Reports from Gizmodo noted that he also deleted a message that urged his audience to "vote red today."
The comment regarding space lasers referred to a debunked conspiracy theory that circulated after Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election, which claimed Musk utilized the Starlink satellite network to alter vote totals.
The mention of orbiting data centers touched on SpaceX plans to place artificial intelligence computer clusters into orbit. Such plans take on new relevance following the election of Hinojosa, who has advocated for a moratorium on constructing AI data centers inside Texas.
Elon Musk's financial position
The midterm cycle was not an entirely total loss for candidates aligned with the tech executive. A report from Forbes confirmed that 18 Musk-backed candidates running in lower-profile races secured victories and won their seats.
Even with the substantial campaign spending and the subsequent premarket dip in stock values, Musk remains in an exceptionally secure financial position.
Reporting from The New York Times estimates his total net worth at approximately $898 billion, ensuring that the historic political gamble will leave his broader business empire firmly intact.