Tesla CEO Elon Musk donated $45 million to a political motion committee (PAC) campaigning for the re-election of former President Donald Trump. This is a major change on the planet’s richest person within the political landscape. This is in response to a study that shows that the richest person on the planet 2018 within the US 2019 within the US 2020 within the US 2021 within the US 2022 within the US 2023 within the US 2024 within the A Wall Street Journal reportciting people accustomed to the matter.
Just days before publicly endorsing the previous president, Musk donated to America PAC, a low-profile group formed in June to fund Trump’s presidential bid, after vowing to not support either Biden or Trump of their rematch for the White House.
“To be clear, I am not donating money to any of the U.S. presidential candidates,” Musk wrote on X in March.
Still, Musk has shifted his political stance in recent months, accelerated by his nearly unbroken support for Trump, which Musk reiterated after an assassination attempt on the presumptive Republican nominee during a campaign rally on Saturday. As the CEO of an electrical automotive maker – the Tesla Model Y was the best-selling automotive in decidedly progressive California last 12 months – it’s unclear whether Musk’s stance will clash with the political leanings of electrical automotive buyers.
In addition to Musk, loads of money from the tech industry can also be flowing into the PAC, namely from Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss in addition to Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir Technologies. WSJ reported.
Political change
Musk, who has donated to each Democrats and Republicans, previously described himself as an independent politician who only donates to expand his influence amongst politicians.
According to the nonprofit OpenSecrets, he donated about $80,639 per election cycle from 2004 to 2020. About 50.1% of that cash went to Republican causes, of which 688,350 USD which went on to the federal candidates and party committees.
“I get involved in politics as little as possible,” he said during a Vanity Fair event in 2015“I have to get involved to some extent, especially because SpaceX has to compete with Boeing and Lockheed for national security and civilian space launch contracts. If we don’t fight them, we’re going to lose.”
Musk said he previously voted for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and current President Joe Biden, but in addition supported Republican House candidates within the 2022 election.
In recent years, Musk’s philosophy has shifted significantly from neutrality to a more right-wing stance. Some have cited his purchase of X – formerly Twitter – in 2022 as the start of his political involvement, where he gave himself a platform to advocate his frequent criticism of Biden.
“Until a few years ago, I voted 100% Democrat,” Musk said in March. “Now, in my opinion, we need a red wave, otherwise America will be finished.”
