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Texas Republicans and their causes have received nearly $5 million from the world's richest man this year.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Inc. and SpaceX, has given $500,000 to Texans for Greg Abbott in the six months through June, according to the latest campaign finance reports filed with the state. Other high-profile donations include $250,000 to Rep. Dustin Burrows, the speaker of the Texas House, and the Elon Musk Revocable Trust gave another $500,000 to Texans for Dan Patrick, the campaign committee of the lieutenant governor. At the start of the year, he gave $500,000 to Patrick's Texas Senate Leadership Fund ahead of a Senate special election in North Texas.
The Musk trust's other political contributions this year include $2 million to the Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC and $1 million to the Judicial Fairness PAC.
Texans for Lawsuit Reform, which backs tort reform, has overwhelmingly supported Republican candidates for office. From 2025 through April, it is also the political action committee that has spent the most on state elections. The Judicial Fairness PAC has supported Republican judicial candidates across Texas.
Musk is making donations outside of Texas, too. He gave $5 million to a super PAC supporting Republican billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign for Ohio governor. He also sent $10 million to both the Senate Leadership Fund and Congressional Leadership Fund, which support Republicans. He contributed less than $500,000 in the second quarter to his own America PAC, which backed President Donald Trump's re-election. In all, his donations for the midterm election cycle are at least $90 million.
From September 2024 to April, he had given $5.5 million to political action committees in Texas. The year 2024 also saw his funding of a group that unsuccessfully tried to unseat Travis County District Attorney José Garza in the Democratic primary. Until increasing sharply in 2024, his donations to Texas politicians totaled $69,500, almost all of which was given in 2014.
Musk's personal net worth is tied largely to his 42% stake in SpaceX and roughly 15% ownership stake in Tesla. Much of his fortune is on paper, tied to the fortunes of his companies, and he's said less than 0.1% of it is in cash.
He briefly became the world's first trillionaire after SpaceX went public in June. The company's shares shot as high as $176 on their first day of trading, pushing Musk's personal wealth above the $1 trillion mark and the company's market value to $2.2 trillion. In recent days, Musk's net worth has dropped to less than $800 billion as investors have driven down SpaceX shares after it aborted the 13th launch of its Starship rocket last week for engine trouble.
Musk's donation to Abbott was among the largest individual contributions the governor received as he seeks a fourth term in a campaign against Democratic nominee Gina Hinojosa, a state representative from Austin. Other major contributions included $1 million from Amarillo Republican mega-donor Alex Fairly and $500,000 from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
Musk and Abbott have long maintained a friendly public relationship. The Texas billionaire took time recently to talk to Abbott while he guest-hosted "The Sean Hannity Show" earlier this month, earning praise from the governor for being a "visionary." Musk's business growth recently has also been tied to Abbott. Two school districts in Grimes County have approved more tax breaks for Elon Musk's chip-making factory last week, cuts that will also need approval from Abbott.
Aside from his campaign contributions, Musk has taken other measures to become entrenched in Texas politics. Lobbyists representing Tesla, SpaceX and X Corp. spent tens of thousands of dollars on gifts for Texas elected officials and others during the 2025 legislative session, the Texas Newsroom has reported.
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