Elon Musk's Big Trump Bet: A Quarter-Billion Dollar Gamble

Elon Musk, the billionaire behind Tesla and SpaceX, put more than $260 million into Donald Trump's presidential campaign. This makes him one of the biggest political donors in recent history. Musk started a super PAC, America PAC, and gave it $238 million. He also backed other groups that supported Trump, like RBG PAC, which spent millions on ads linking Trump's abortion views to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Despite criticism from Ginsburg's granddaughter, Musk's involvement wasn't public until after the election.

Musk also donated to MAHA Alliance, a super PAC that encouraged supporters of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to back Trump. After the election, Trump picked Musk to lead a new department focused on cutting government spending. Other big Trump donors also got top jobs in his administration. For example, Howard Lutnick, who gave nearly $9 million to pro-Trump super PACs, is set to head the Commerce Department. Venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, who have invested in crypto businesses, donated $23 million to Fairshake, the crypto industry's main super PAC. Trump has shown support for digital assets, unlike the Biden administration.

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