AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Elon Musk spent at least $445 million in a gambit to help Republicans keep control of Congress, an amount roughly equivalent to someone on a $100,000 annual salary saving every penny for 4,400 years.
asserted
someone → spend → years
To the world’s first trillionaire, it’s a pittance, but the billions of dollars’ worth of business his companies do with the federal government is not.
asserted
companies → ’ → government
And on Tuesday night, a Republican Party that had embraced Musk lost again and again, ceding control of Congress to a Democratic Party leery of the world’s richest person and keen to put his companies and his work at the Department of Government Efficiency under a microscope.
asserted
that → embrace → microscope
Nobody may have suffered bigger losses Tuesday than President Donald Trump.
uncertain
Nobody → suffer → Trump
But few others had more on the line than Musk, who gambled big and came up holding the midterm’s worst return on investment.
asserted
who → have → investment
Democrats in Congress were already queuing to get their shot at Musk, with possible subpoenas and investigations.
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Democrats → queue → subpoenas
As the bloodiest election for Republicans in recent history wore on, Musk joked on X, the social media site he owns.
asserted
he → wear → X
“Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn’t work this time,” he wrote with a shrug emoji.
asserted
he → guess → emoji
Musk now faces new threats to his bottom line in places including Texas, where he has based himself and several of his companies.
asserted
he → face → companies
Musk spent at least $5 million to try to reelect Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who lost.
asserted
who → spend → Abbott
Democrats also secured control of the Texas House and the U.S. Senate, partly by beating Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, who effectively benefited from $158 million of Musk’s spending but lost his Senate race against Democrat James Talarico.
asserted
who → secure → Talarico
It was the first statewide win for Democrats in Texas in more than 30 years, and the candidates won in part by hammering Musk, the tax breaks and grants his companies receive, and his relationships with elected Republicans.
asserted
companies → win → Republicans
“This era of open corruption is going to come to an end,” said Rep. Gene Wu, chairman of the state legislature’s newly empowered Democratic Caucus.
asserted
Wu → go → Caucus
Musk did not respond to messages seeking comment.
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Musk → respond → comment
Musk’s reputation did not help with many Texas voters
Slightly more than half of Texas voters said they had an unfavorable opinion of Musk, according to The AP Voter Poll of more than 5,000 voters in the state.
uncertain
they → help → state
While Musk is overwhelmingly viewed positively by MAGA Republicans, those numbers dip for non-MAGA GOP voters and plummet for independent and Democratic voters.
asserted
numbers → view → voters
Those were the voters who Talarico and Democrat Gina Hinojosa, who beat Abbott in the governor’s race, were targeting.
asserted
who → beat → race
The two often framed politics not through partisanship but as billionaires versus everyday Texans, and Musk’s emergence as a major Republican benefactor played into that message.
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emergence → frame → message
“Paxton is funded by one dude.
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Paxton → fund → dude
Elon Musk wants our land.
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Musk → want → land
He wants our water.
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He → want → water
He wants our tax dollars.
asserted
He → want → dollars
He wants his very own personal United States senator,” Talarico told a crowd in his final rally of the election, just after Hinojosa gave a similar excoriation on the same Austin stage.
asserted
Hinojosa → want → stage
“We know that Elon Musk got a $1.7 billion property tax break here in Texas, property taxes that the rest of us have to pay full price on,” Hinojosa said.
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Hinojosa → know → price
Even as Musk’s money helped blanket Texas in negative ads largely against Talarico, the Democrats’ message was aimed at the heart of an electorate whose median household income of $85,000 a year is under a pressure test as the prices of gas, groceries, rents and mortgages keep climbing.
asserted
prices → blanket → gas
Outgoing Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said there was a point where the sheer amount of Musk’s donations became unhelpful to the GOP’s effort.
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amount → say → effort
“You’re reaching the upper bound of the benefit of any of these dollars,” he said in an interview.
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he → reach → interview
“People are so turned off by all of the ads, and all you’re doing is running the same ad every single time.”
asserted
you → turn → ad
Investor jitters after election drop Musk’s net worth by $45 billion
Musk’s two publicly traded companies, Tesla and SpaceX, both saw prices for their shares drop considerably on Wednesday even as the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index climbed.
asserted
index → trade → Wednesday
Tesla shares declined Wednesday afternoon and wiped out about $40 billion from the electric carmaker’s market capitalization, standing at $1.54 trillion.
asserted
shares → decline → trillion
SpaceX also lost about $40 billion from its market value, now at $1.83 trillion.
asserted
SpaceX → lose → trillion
Musk lost about $45 billion of his net worth on Wednesday, which stood at $865.6 billion, according to Forbes, though it could rebound.
uncertain
it → lose → Forbes
Investors are signaling some jitters about the impact of the election on Musk’s businesses.
asserted
Investors → signal → businesses
Worries that he may face congressional investigations “contributed to the early plunge for his benchmark firms,” said Joe Mazzola, head trading and derivatives strategist at Charles Schwab.
uncertain
Mazzola → face → Schwab
Musk’s genius is also his danger, said Michael Morris, a professor of leadership at Columbia Business School.
asserted
Morris → say → School
“I can understand that the same strategic mind that makes him so good at some of the business ventures and the hedging, it makes him think that he can also take control of politics, but it’s a different animal,” he said.
asserted
he → understand → politics
“He obviously has way more money than he will ever need, and his companies are doing well,” Morris continued.
asserted
Morris → have → money
“I do think it’s kind of a game to him.”
asserted
it → think → him
Musk now faces a leery Congress
Democrats have not forgotten Musk’s time in Washington last year heading DOGE, which blitzed through agencies culling federal workers, and a recent fiasco in which SpaceX internet service in Ukraine, Starlink, was throttled amid the war with Russia.
asserted
service → face → Russia
“Elon Musk waved a chain saw on stage and laughed while he fired public servants and gutted the services Americans rely on,” wrote Rep. James Walkinshaw, a Virginia Democrat, in an X post just before the election.
asserted
Walkinshaw → wave → election
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
