Elon Musk donated more than $260 million to Trump’s campaign

The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, spent a small part of his vast fortune on supporting Donald Trump’s campaign for the U.S. presidential election. Newly filed documents with the Federal Election Commission, released Thursday, reveal that Musk’s contributions were significantly higher than previously estimated, surpassing $260 million. This investment appears to have paid off handsomely. Following the election, the value of Musk’s companies — and consequently his personal fortune — soared to historic highs. On Thursday alone, his net worth increased by $8.3 billion, reaching a record-breaking $362 billion. Musk’s contributions to the Trump campaign accounted for just 0.07% of his wealth.

The largest portion of Musk’s financial support came through his America PAC committee, which focused on bolstering Trump’s campaign in pivotal states, particularly Pennsylvania. America PAC funded daily million-dollar raffles aimed at rallying support, though it was later revealed that the winners were pre-picked. According to Thursday’s report, Musk contributed $238.52 million to this fund.

Additionally, it was disclosed on Thursday that Musk contributed $20.5 million to a previously mysterious political committee known as RBG PAC. The sole donor to this PAC, according to official filings, was the Elon Musk Revocable Trust, based in Austin, Texas — Musk’s place of residence. This contribution was made on October 24. RBG PAC launched a series of ads, emails, and text messages during the campaign, asserting that Trump opposed a federal abortion ban and audaciously aligning his stance with that of the late progressive Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (the PAC is named after her).

The documents further reveal that in late October, Musk donated $3 million to the MAHA Alliance, a committee backing Robert F. Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” campaign, which also aligned with Trump at the time.

In total, Musk contributed $262 million to these three organizations, making him the most generous known donor to the Republican campaign, surpassing the $197 million donated by tycoon Timothy Mellon, another Trump supporter. It is likely that Musk made additional contributions to other organizations. Bloomberg estimates Musk’s total contributions at $274 million, though the publication does not provide a detailed breakdown.

Since the election, Musk has emerged as Trump’s apparent right-hand man. He spent several days with the former president at Mar-a-Lago, accompanied him to a wrestling event in New York, and hosted Trump at the launch of SpaceX’s Starship at the Brownsville, Texas facility.

Musk has been tasked with leading the self-proclaimed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), charged with overhauling government operations and eliminating regulations. From this position — which is unofficial, meaning it exempts him from conflict-of-interest and incompatibility rules governing civil servants — Musk stands to benefit personally. He will wield significant influence over regulators, potentially shaping policies to favor his business interests, including self-driving cars (Tesla), rocket launches (SpaceX), artificial intelligence (xAI), and brain-computer interfaces (Neuralink).

Trump has also been appointing close allies to key roles in his administration. Among them is the amateur astronaut Jared Isaacman, who has been tapped to head NASA, a major client of Musk’s SpaceX. Additionally, David Sacks, a longtime Musk associate, has been named the incoming “artificial intelligence and crypto czar.” Both Isaacman and Sacks are members of the so-called “PayPal Mafia,” as they were former PayPal co-founders. Musk’s new AI company, xAI, has achieved an astronomical valuation of $40 billion within its first year. On Thursday, the company reported a $6 billion funding round to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Notably, Sacks advocates for minimal regulation of both cryptocurrencies and AI.

Musk met Thursday on Capitol Hill with House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Republican leader John Thune, and a group of GOP lawmakers to discuss plans to reduce regulations and cut government spending. Among Musk’s proposals was a push to require federal employees to work full-time in person, a move partly aimed to prompt workers to leave public service altogether.

Musk emerged as an unexpected key figure in Trump’s presidential campaign. As early as May, it was rumored that Trump planned to include Musk in his administration if elected. The candidate later confirmed that Musk would lead efforts to implement “drastic” reforms. At Tesla’s shareholder meeting in June, Musk casually mentioned his relationship with Trump, quipping, “He does call me out of the blue for no reason. I don’t know why, but he does.”

After the Butler assassination attempt on Trump, Musk publicly endorsed the Republican and campaigned alongside him at rallies. Musk even held his own unconventional events where he targeted Vice President Kamala Harris, while using his social media platform X to spread misinformation favorable to Republicans and critical of Democrats.

Following the election, Musk has become Trump’s “First Buddy.” On Thursday, Trump shared on his social network Truth Social a photoshopped image depicting himself in the Oval Office with Musk standing beside him. While some interpreted Musk’s role as akin to that of an assistant, the image symbolized Musk’s elevated status as Trump’s right-hand man.

The election year proved exceptionally lucrative for Musk. His fortune grew by $133 billion, the largest increase among all billionaires, with most of the gains occurring in just two months following Trump’s victory. On October 23, Musk’s wealth was valued at $237 billion; it has since climbed to $362 billion. His contributions to Trump’s campaign have proven to be a highly profitable investment.

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