Elon Musk spends more than RM1.3 billion on the 2024 US Presidential Election
Agencies
02/02/2025
Musk's 'investment' has given him unprecedented access to the new administration of the US President. - Reuters Image
WASHINGTON: Billionaire Elon Musk has spent more than US$290 million (RM1.3 billion) on the 2024 US Presidential Election, according to a file recorded by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
Musk made the 'investment' as a sign of support for President Donald Trump and the Republican Party in an extraordinary effort that has given him unprecedented access to the new administration.
Year-end filings, which span the last five weeks of the year, also reveal a scramble for influence as the new administration prepares to take power. Trump's old campaign committee - which has been converted into a new account to allow him to remain influential in politics despite being limited to two terms - has raised nearly US$21 million (RM93.45 million) during the period.
Meanwhile, a political action committee (PAC) that is also a key ally of President Trump's campaign received several multimillion-dollar donations including US$1 million (RM4.45 million) from the Ambassador candidate to the United Kingdom (UK) which was announced on the same day he was nominated.
Additionally, these filings show how political parties and some of their key members are gearing up for the 2026 midterm election cycle, with potentially threatened incumbents in battleground states like Georgia, North Carolina, and New Hampshire raising funds.
The Democratic National Committee, on the other hand, spent heavily in the weeks after the party's defeat in 2024, spending more than US$56 million (RM249.2 million) to cover headquarters expenses, legal fees as well as efforts to get feedback and funds from their voters.
New filings with the FEC on Friday show that Musk had donated around US$11.2 million (RM49.9 million) to his flagship PAC, America PAC, on the last day of the year - bringing his total political contribution for the cycle to more than US$290 million (RM1.3 billion), a large figure rivaled by only a handful of other mega donors.
Musk's year-end donation was earmarked for a "petition incentive" related to the multimillion-dollar prize giving he organized through a super PAC in the final weeks of the race.
These prizes – which were meant to encourage voter registration – faced legal challenges, but were eventually allowed to go ahead. - Agency
