Elon Musk becomes largest donor of US midterm cycle with $366 million spent | 2026 US midterm elections

Elon Musk has become the largest political donor in the 2026 U.S. midterm election cycle, pumping an estimated $366 million into political groups and campaigns as he supports conservative candidates and right-wing causes. The world’s richest person has invested more than $276 million in politics since July alone, marking one of the fastest political expenditures in U.S. history. It targets key elections that will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate.

The New York Times first reported the spending figures, which will be released in a federal document on Thursday. Musk’s spending exceeds his contributions to the 2024 presidential election, in which he invested nearly $300 million in Donald Trump’s re-election campaign.

Musk’s political spending reaffirms the SpaceX and Tesla CEO as the top Republican mega-donor and strengthens his right-wing political influence. Musk, who led the Trump administration’s efforts to gut federal agencies last year, has become an international pillar of far-right political movements in recent years as he aligns himself with anti-immigrant conservative leaders.

The tech mogul’s spending spree also marks a reversal from mid-last year, when Musk said he would forgo making political donations of such magnitude. The failures of his so-called “Department of Government Effectiveness” (Doge) and costly public backlash to his political influence, as well as a dramatic spat with Trump, appear to have dampened his interest in Washington politics.

Musk’s spending is spread across a series of political action committees, according to Reuters and the New York Times, including his own America Pac. His biggest expenditure was a $158 million contribution to the Senate Leadership Fund, a Super Pac aimed at helping Republicans maintain control of the Senate. Musk also gave $10 million to a Pac supporting Ken Paxton, the Republican candidate for Texas Senate who faces Democratic candidate James Talarico in an intense and closely watched race.

Other blockbuster contributions from Musk include $76 million for America Pac, $20 million for the Congressional Leadership Fund Republican Super Pac, and $10 million for the Republican Governors Association. Musk also gave $10 million in January to Nate Morris, a Republican Senate candidate in Kentucky who withdrew from the race in May after accepting an offer to become U.S. ambassador to Colombia.

Some of Musk’s money goes toward advertising and messaging campaigns that focus on anti-transgender rhetoric and accuse Democratic candidates of being radical socialists. Musk has long used X, the social media platform he owns, to target his political opponents, promote election misinformation and attack trans rights. Over the weekend, he reposted a video from America Pac that showed Talarico’s previous statements on gender, calling it “insanity.”

Musk’s immense spending involves some of the largest political donations in U.S. history, but still represents only a tiny fraction of his nearly $1 billion wealth. The $366 million in midterm spending represents about less than 0.04% of his net worth.