Elon Musk donates record 158 million dollars to GOP Senate super PAC

Tesla and SpaceX chief executive officer Elon Musk donated a record 158 million dollars in September to the Senate Leadership Fund, CNBC and The Hill reported. The donation boosted the Republican super PAC as part of efforts to support Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in his U.S. Senate campaign ahead of the November 3 midterm election. [1][3][5][10][11]

The Senate Leadership Fund collected 272.9 million dollars from July through September, according to Federal Election Commission filings cited by CNBC. The political action committee entered the final weeks before the election holding more than 155 million dollars in cash. [1][5]

The Hill reported that Musk was the sole donor to a Texas political action committee backing Paxton during the third quarter. Musk has been the wealthiest person in the world since 2025 and became a trillionaire in June 2026. [3][10]

Outside of political contributions, Tom's Hardware reported that Musk publicly criticized memory chip manufacturers over high prices while praising Micron. Tom's Hardware also reported that semiconductor manufacturer TSMC confirmed it is considering expanding its chipmaking capacity into Texas for a proposed project with Musk. [2][4]