Elon Musk signals he may spend as much as $180 million to elect Trump
Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter CEO Elon Musk is all in for Trump. The controversial businessman made his formal endorsement of Trump over the weekend following a failed assassination attempt.
But Musk is in a bit more than that. According to a report Monday night in the Wall Street Journal, "Musk has said he plans to commit around $45 million a month to a new super political-action committee backing former President Donald Trump’s presidential run, according to people familiar with the matter."
At $45 million a month, including the months of July, August, September and October, Musk could commit as much as $180 million to Trump's re-election effort. The motley crew of Trump supporters funding the PAC also include early Facebook backers and the CEO of a coal company, creating a bizarre confluence of GOP supporters with differing interests.
The donation could be the largest commitment of cash to the 2024 presidential election campaign. Musk is currently the world's richest person, with a net worth exceeding $250 billion. The largest known donation of the current cycle — $50 million supporting Trump's presidential bid — came from the great grandson of banker Thomas Mellon.
"Other backers of the group, called America PAC, include Palantir Technologies co-founder Joe Lonsdale, the Winklevoss twins, former U.S. ambassador to Canada Kelly Craft and her husband, Joe Craft, who is chief executive of coal producer Alliance Resource Partners," the Journal notes.
"According to a filing made on Monday, America PAC had $8.75 million in contributions for the three-month period ending on June 30," the Journal continued. "Musk had indicated that he planned to start his donations in July, one of the people said... Bloomberg News earlier said that Musk has donated to America PAC."
Musk endorsed Trump following the attempted assassination of Trump. “I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery,” Musk said on X. Later, he added, “Last time America had a candidate this tough was Theodore Roosevelt.”
Born in 1971 in South Africa, Musk co-founded the online financial services company PayPal in the 1990s, making a fortune when it was acquired by eBay in 2002. Using his PayPal earnings, Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 with the goal of revolutionizing space travel and exploration.
In 2004, Musk also became an early investor in Tesla, the electric vehicle company he is now closely associated with as CEO. Under Musk's leadership, Tesla grew to become the world's most valuable automaker, pioneering battery-powered cars and clean energy solutions.
However, Musk's unconventional management style and brash public persona have also drawn criticism. He's feuded publicly with regulators, the media, and his own employees. Nonetheless, Musk remains one of America's most influential and controversial tech leaders, driven by a vision to tackle global challenges through innovation in areas like sustainable energy, space exploration, and advanced technologies.
More details about America PAC and Musk's involvement is available here.