Elon Musk Will Give About $45 Million A Month To Support Trump, Report Says

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, will give around $45 million a month to a new super PAC supporting former President Donald Trump, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, days after Musk endorsed Trump’s 2024 campaign following Saturday’s assassination attempt against Trump.

KEY FACTS

Musk—who initially said he planned to remain neutral in the 2024 presidential race—has informed people of his plans to donate to the newly founded group, the America PAC, the Journal reported, citing sources familiar with Musk’s plans.

Bloomberg reported last week that Musk had already given a sizable amount to the group, citing unnamed sources.

The group told The New York Times—which also reported Monday that Musk was likely to support the new super PAC—that it believes another Biden presidency “is a grave threat to the financial and physical safety of the United States.”

America PAC is backed by billionaire and private equity donor Antonio Gracias; Ken Howery, a former PayPal executive alongside Musk and Trump’s former ambassador to Sweden; and billionaire venture capitalist Doug Leone, who have each donated $1 million, according to The Times.

Sequoia Capital investor Shaun Maguire and tech founder John Hering also donated $500,000 each, while cryptocurrency billionaires Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss gave $250,000 each, The Times reported, noting the group is led, in part, by Palantir Technologies co-founder Joe Lonsdale.

FORBES VALUATION

We estimate Musk is worth $252.3 billion.

KEY BACKGROUND

The news comes after Musk on Saturday endorsed Trump for president minutes after Trump was shot in the ear at his rally in Pennsylvania and rushed off stage by Secret Service, his face streaked with blood, in a surreal moment for the 2024 campaign. “I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery,” Musk wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, sharing a video of Trump being escorted from the rally. Musk has been cozying up to Trump in recent months, including reportedly meeting with Trump and Republican donors in Palm Beach, Florida in March. After reports of the meeting surfaced, Musk tweeted “Just to be clear, I am not donating money to either candidate for US president.” Musk has donated to both Republicans and Democrats in the past, but he has shifted to the right in recent years, urging people to vote for Republicans in the 2022 midterms and openly criticizing President Joe Biden, including his promotion of electric vehicle manufacturing and his immigration policies. source

Musk pledges to give $45M a month to Trump super PAC: report

Tech billionaire Elon Musk said he will commit $45 million per month to a new political action committee backing former President Trump, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

Musk’s announcement comes on the same day Trump was named the Republican Party’s official nominee and after he named Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate.

America PAC will primarily focus on voter outreach and registration efforts, the Journal reported, with the intention to combat Democrats’ traditionally strong similar campaigns.

Other notable backers of the PAC include the Winklevoss twins, tech entrepreneur Joe Lonsdale, former ambassador to Canada and Kentucky Senate candidate Kelly Craft and her husband, coal executive Joe Craft, the Journal said.

The commitment would likely be one of the largest donations of the 2024 presidential campaign. Potentially crossing into hundreds of millions of dollars, Musk’s promised spending would be unprecedented.

Musk’s fortune is worth about $252 billion, according to Forbes. He is the CEO of electric carmaker Tesla and leads space firm SpaceX, as well as the social media platform X.

America PAC was established in May and registered in Texas, according to federal filings. The group raised $8.75 million in the second quarter, according to a filing published Monday, and has just under $100,000 cash on hand as of the end of June.

Musk will begin his donations this month, according to the Journal.

The commitment breaks a previous promise to stay out of the 2024 election for Musk. He endorsed Trump on Saturday, shortly after the former president survived an attempted assassination.

“I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery,” Musk wrote in a post on his social platform X, alongside a video of the former president standing and raising his fist after being shot in the ear.

Musk appeared to be growing closer to Trump in recent months, with the Journal reporting in late May that the billionaire and the former president had discussed a possible advisory role for Musk in a second Trump administration.

Bloomberg first reported Musk’s involvement with America PAC. source