Elon Musk’s Midterm Spending Backfires as Businesses Lose Billions

Elon Musk’s nearly half‑billion‑dollar spending on the 2026 US midterms failed to deliver Republican wins, a result described as a flop by The Guardian and, according to BBC, failed to deliver Republican wins. After the outcome, he removed election‑related posts, a move reported by Futurism, which also noted a $120 billion decline in the value of his businesses. Fortune added that the effort may have cost him about $30 billion of his net worth.

Who is Elon Musk

Elon Reeve Musk is an American businessman born on 28 June 1971 in Pretoria, South Africa, and is known as a programmer, engineer, entrepreneur, investor, politician, civil servant, technology entrepreneur, dub actor, financier and philanthropist. He is the chief executive officer and largest shareholder of Tesla and SpaceX. He has been the wealthiest person in the world since 2025 and became the only trillionaire in June 2026; as of October 2026, Forbes estimates his net worth at $1.1 trillion.

Lesser‑known facts

Elon Musk shares his 28 June birthday with the philosopher Jean‑Jacques Rousseau and the painter Peter Paul Rubens, a coincidence noted in the Index.

He is one of 26 people in the Index born in Pretoria, the most recognised of whom is virologist Max Theiler.

Musk was 31 years old when he first became chief executive officer in 2002.

His career has included multiple senior roles: chief executive officer in 2002, chairperson from 2008 to 2018, chief executive officer again in 2008, co‑president in 2016, chief executive officer from 2022 to 2023, and Senior Advisor to the President of the United States in 2025.