The midterms have cost Musk close to $30B

Elon Musk spent heavily to preserve Republican control of Congress, but the party’s broad midterm losses - especially in Texas - made the political investment look like money wasted. Donation estimates vary: one cited estimate puts his spending at $446 million, while reporting traces $158 million routed through a national Senate fund to a Texas political committee, with matching sums sent the following day. Musk’s America PAC also directed another $47 million to groups supporting Republican Ken Paxton. The defeat is especially significant because Musk has spent years shifting his personal, corporate and business base to Texas, including Tesla and SpaceX.

The larger financial blow came as Tesla and SpaceX fell sharply in early trading, despite expectations of a strong broader market. Their declines - 5.7 percent for Tesla and 7.6 percent for SpaceX at the time reported - put the cost of the election in perspective: the losses in the value of Musk’s holdings were estimated at more than $60 billion and were still accumulating. That figure dwarfs his campaign contributions, though Musk remains extraordinarily wealthy. The political result may also complicate his reported ambition to combine Tesla and SpaceX. A Democratic-led Congress could scrutinize such a transaction more closely, even if it could not necessarily block it.