Musk's representatives say he gave $276 million to the midterms. Federal filings showed $90.6 million

Who is giving, and why it matters

Elon Musk runs SpaceX, a NASA and Pentagon contractor, and Tesla, the automaker. He also owns X, formerly known as Twitter. Reuters reported on October 12th, 2026 that he is likely the single biggest donor in this year's US midterm elections, which decide whether Republicans keep control of Congress.

The headline total is roughly $366 million this cycle, which began January 1st, 2025. It joins two different kinds of figure. About $90.6 million is in federal filings, by CNBC's count of Federal Election Commission records. The other $276 million, given since July, came from figures that Musk's representatives gave The New York Times. A spokesperson for his super PAC, America PAC, confirmed them to Reuters and CNBC.

In May 2025 Musk said he would do "a lot less" political spending. CNBC notes that his giving this cycle has already passed the roughly $290 million he spent in the 2024 election.

What is on the record and what is not

The filed part is smaller than it looks as midterm money. An America PAC spokesman told Reuters that roughly $90 million spent this cycle paid for work done in the prior election or for other causes. One was an unsuccessful candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Another was a program that paid $1 million to registered voters who signed a petition.

Gifts through groups that do not disclose their donors are in neither figure, the Times reported. Committees that report quarterly had to file their September reports by October 15th, 2026, according to the Federal Election Commission calendar. The figures here come from reporting dated October 8th to October 12th, 2026, so a reader can check them against those filings.

Figure 1 shows how the $276 million was divided, as itemized by Musk's representatives.

Where the new money went

Most of the $276 million went to two groups. Musk gave $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, the super PAC that backs Republican Senate candidates. It is aligned with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota. CNBC calls the gift among the largest known political donations by an individual in US history.

He gave $76 million to America PAC, the group he founded during the 2024 election. Reuters says it is helping Republican candidates in seven battleground states and nearly three dozen House races.

Texas shows how the money lands. Lone Star Liberty PAC, which received $10 million from Musk, backs Ken Paxton, the Republican state attorney general running for the US Senate against Democrat James Talarico. Polls differ. Reuters said recent polls had the two in a dead heat, while CNBC cited a polling average on October 12th with Talarico ahead, 48.4% to 45.0%.

How Musk compares with other large donors

On filed records alone, Musk's $90.6 million put him just behind Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz and their firm Andreessen Horowitz, which CNBC counts at roughly $91.3 million. Figure 2 shows the five largest donor groups in that count. It leaves out Musk's later gifts.

With the reported $276 million added, CNBC calls him the biggest known donor of the 2026 midterms.

What Musk's companies have before the government

Federal agencies accounted for about 20% of SpaceX's revenue last year, the Wall Street Journal reported. Reuters notes that House Democrats are calling for investigations into his government contracts at SpaceX and his work running the Department of Government Efficiency.

Tesla has a federal matter of its own. On March 19th, 2026 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the US auto safety regulator, escalated its probe into 3.2 million Tesla vehicles with Full Self-Driving driver assistance, Reuters reported.

What to watch

The federal calendar gives two checks on the numbers. The October quarterly report was due October 15th, 2026 and the pre-general report on October 22nd, 2026. The post-general report, covering activity through November 23rd, is due December 3rd, 2026.

Gifts routed through groups that do not name their donors may stay out of every count.