Elon Musk spent almost $450 million to support Republican candidates in the US midterm elections, more than anyone has ever spent in a single election cycle. Democrats won decisively despite his spending.
Musk's largest single investment was at least $45 million backing Republican Ken Paxton for a US Senate seat in Texas. Democrat James Talarico won that race. Musk also spent millions in Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
By Tuesday night, Musk posted on X that his "election-interfering space lasers didn't work."
The Democratic wins may create obstacles for Musk's business interests. SpaceX has received an estimated $10 billion in new government contracts since 2024. Several Democratic lawmakers have called for investigations into SpaceX's role in government and national security. Data centre development by SpaceX and other tech companies now faces new potential difficulties. Georgia elected a Democratic governor who ran partly on limiting rapid data centre expansion and tax breaks for tech companies. Dozens of state measures to limit data centre development passed on Tuesday.
Tech companies involved in AI may face tougher government scrutiny under Democratic leadership, though any legislation would need Trump's approval. James Flintoft, head of investment solutions at AJ Bell, said Musk's unsuccessful Republican spending and Democratic wins create "a period of uncertainty for investors as they assess whether tech companies are set to face greater regulation."
Senator Ed Markey responded on X Wednesday to a question about investigating tech executives, saying: "They are going to need to plant new forests for all of the subpoenas we'll be printing."
Tesla and SpaceX stock fell 4.9 percent and 3.4 percent respectively on Wednesday, while broader tech stocks rose.
By Wednesday, Musk had stopped posting about politics on X and deleted or unpinned earlier political posts, including one calling for votes for Republican candidates.