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Tesla (TSLA-1.99%) and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has become a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump’s latest bid for the White House. But it turns out he has long been a donor to Republican Party causes.
Musk publicly endorsed Trump in July, following an attempted assassination at the Republican candidate’s campaign event in Pennsylvania. That same month, the Wall Street Journal (NWSA-1.37%) reported Musk would be committing $45 million per month to America PAC, a super PAC supporting Trump’s presidential run. (Musk later said this is “simply not true.”)
But a new investigation by the Journal found that Musk has made financial commitments to the Republican Party for years. The publication, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, reports that, with the help of Republican consultants and lawyers, Musk has been quietly funneling millions toward Republican efforts.
That includes using an LLC to send money to “social welfare” or “dark money” groups that are exempt from disclosing donors and can collect unlimited donations from people and companies, according to the Journal.
In 2022, Musk funded $50 million worth of advertising campaigns from Citizens for Sanity, a group that has attacked the Democratic Party on a number of issues, including LGBTQ+ rights and immigration, the Journal reported. And last year, Musk reportedly gave $10 million to support Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential run.
Musk, who is the richest person in the world, has a net worth of $264.3 billion as of Oct. 3, according to Forbes.
The billionaire businessman has railed against Democrats and their policies on his social media platform, X. In a widely read post on Sunday, for example, Musk baselessly claimed the White House was secretly importing migrants to sway the coming election in favor of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Musk has also made a series of claims about his transgender daughter, including that she was “dead” and “killed” after transitioning, which ignited his vow to “destroy the woke mind virus.”
For his part, Trump has invited Musk to head a new government commission tasked with conducting a financial and performance audit of the federal government and proposing reforms. Musk pitched the idea last month during an interview with the former president.
“No pay, no title, no recognition is needed,” Musk wrote on X in response to the offer.
In the past, Trump floated having Musk consult as an unofficial advisor on AI or other issues. Bloomberg News reported in May that Musk has counseled Trump on cryptocurrency policy and could be given a job advising the presidential hopeful on the issue.
Musk in 2017 resigned from his spot on Trump’s White House advisory councils after the then-president withdrew from the Paris climate agreement, calling the move “not good for America or the world.” However, in his interview with Trump, Musk said climate change wasn’t an issue that needed immediate attention and walked back his earlier, harsher comments on the oil and gas industry.