“Now, if that sounds like a lot of money to you, just remember that half a billion dollars to a trillionaire is like a millionaire losing about 500 bucks at the craps table.”
The Indicator (Planet Money) · Money & Markets · November 2026
Context
Naming big money in politics as his midterm loser, Mulvey notes Elon Musk spent about $500 million backing candidates who mostly lost, and scales that spending to Musk's wealth.
Transcript
Okay, so we'll have to see if the buildouts start to slow down next year and, you know, whether this throws a wrench into these tech giants' AI plans.
…the NASDAQ had its biggest one-day decline in history. The midterms show that the political wins could be shifting against AI, and the industry did try to head this off. There's at least one super PAC that spent big to support pro-AI candidates in the midterms. Ricky, that is a good segue to you.
Yeah, speaking of pro-AI, my loser is big money in politics. From races in Michigan to Ohio to Texas, big money was a loser, and nowhere was that clearer than with Elon Musk. He spent about $500 million trying to elect Republican candidates. In all, he backed dozens of Republican politicians, and the vast majority of them lost. Now, if that sounds like a lot of money to you, just remember that half a billion dollars to a trillionaire is like a millionaire losing about 500 bucks at the craps table. Yeah, or
it's like me buying an Advent calendar on sale for the holidays. But Musk was not just gambling here.
Yeah, Musk spent over $200 million in Texas races alone. That's according to the New York Times. And money went to Ken Paxton, who lost the Senate race to Democrat James Tallarico. Musk also gave money to Texas governor Greg Abbott, who also lost. But
business-wise, I mean, Musk has done pretty well in Texas in recent years.
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