Elon Musk spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars electing Donald Trump this year – an investment that was particularly focused on Pennsylvania.
AND federal election report released this week showed that Musk, the world’s richest man, poured at least $277 million into the nationwide effort to elect Trump and other Republicans.
Musk’s super PAC has raised a quarter of a billion dollars since its formation in May 2024, according to campaign finance disclosures. About $238 million of this sum came from the technology billionaire himself or entities directly related to him – e.g. the corporation he created earlier in the year, called United States of America Inc.
Musk devoted the final four months of the race to electing Trump, campaigning in Pennsylvania and financing advertising and canvassing in the key swing state. Now, as Trump prepares to take office for a second time, Musk has been named co-chair of a up-to-date Office of Government Efficiency called DOGE along with tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Musk, Tesla’s CEO and chairman of X, has become part of Trump’s inner circle and often appears with him at Mar-a-Lago.
Musk also made it clear that he wants his America PAC, which has about $2 million in cash left as of Nov. 25, to continue its work attacking progressive district attorneys, including Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who he will run for re-election next year.
Where did Musk’s money go?
The huge majority of PAC funds flowed to out-of-state PR firms to buy ads or to political consulting firms for canvassing, many of which targeted Keystone State voters.
However, just over $1 million flowed directly to Pennsylvania-based entities.
Nearly half of that amount went to Red Maverick Media, a Harrisburg-based consulting firm co-founded by longtime strategists Ray Zaborney and Mike Leavitt, primarily to finance political mailers.
Zaborney’s firm worked with the state GOP’s campaign department to re-elect representatives in Harrisburg and also lobbied lawmakers there. He and his wife advised on Republican congressional campaigns in Pennsylvania, including those for U.S. Representatives Dan Meuser and John Joyce.
Much of the remaining PAC money went to fund event costs – venue rentals, event staff costs and payments to local law enforcement agencies for security services. Shortly before election night, the PAC also spent $13,000 to secure space at the five-star Four Seasons Hotel in Center City.
Musk also made additional donations to Trump-allied groups, bringing his total buy-in this year to about $277 million. That covers it a $20 million donation to RBG PAC — a committee named after former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, to condemn her family — that sunk money into ads designed to make Trump seem more supportive of abortion access.
About $40.5 million of America PAC funds were specifically earmarked for checks to voters in swing states across the country, including some in Pennsylvania.
PAC offer registered voters in Pennsylvania $100 for signing a petition supporting the First and Second Amendments and another $100 for referring another signer. In delayed October, Musk announced he would begin paying $1 million checks each day through November 5 to registered swing state voters.
Legal challenges to the petition – including the one filed by Krasner – have failed in court, but the handout continues to draw criticism from some Pennsylvanians who say they received the checks without participating in the petition.
This week, The Inquirer reported that the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office of Consumer Protection had received about 20 complaints across the state regarding unwanted and unsolicited $100 checks that appeared to come from a US pro-Donald Trump Musk PAC.
America PAC claims on its website that individuals who participated in the cash rewards program were carefully assessed for eligibility.
Musk is focused on Pennsylvania
Musk endorsed Trump on July 13, shortly after Trump survived an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler. From that point on, he became a devoted campaigner, focusing intensely on delivering Pennsylvania for Trump.
From a centralized hub in Pittsburgh, Musk crisscrossed the state ahead of the election, appearing with Trump upon his return to Butler on Oct. 5 and visiting a high school in Delaware County to support him later that month. In the run-up to the state election, he made at least four appearances to hand out checks.
It’s unclear how much of Trump’s victory in Pennsylvania can be directly attributed to Musk’s involvement. While Pennsylvania turned toward Trump, other swing states where Musk didn’t campaign, like Wisconsin and Michigan, also did so amid a nationwide red wave.
Still, Pennsylvania’s lead for Trump was higher here, and the state’s longtime senator, Bob Casey, lost re-election to Republican Dave McCormick, while incumbent Democratic senators in other swing states held on.
