Elon Musk's effort to help Republicans in the midterm elections fell short, according to reporting from two outlets. PBS NewsHour reported, in a story by Jesse Bedayn of the Associated Press, that Musk had gambled $445 million to boost Republicans and that the bet came up short. Its summary said Musk's wager ended with the midterms' "worst return on investment," and that few others had more on the line.
The PBS NewsHour summary also said that nobody may have suffered bigger losses on Tuesday than President Donald Trump. The summary did not describe those losses in further detail.
The Hill reported in its Technology newsletter, The Big Story, written by Julia Shapero, that Musk poured millions of dollars into boosting Republicans in the midterm elections. According to its summary, the tech mogul's vast wealth was no match for the "blue wave" that battered the GOP on Tuesday night.
The two summaries differ in detail. PBS NewsHour cited a specific figure of $445 million, while The Hill referred only to millions of dollars. Neither summary included vote totals or explained how the money was spent.
The summaries also do not say which Republican candidates received Musk's money, so this report does not identify any. Because it relies only on the headlines and summaries of the two stories, it does not add further details about the election results or the spending.
Sources: PBS NewsHour: Elon Musk gambled $445 million to boost Republicans in the midterms. It came up short; The Hill: Musk's big bet on Republicans comes up short.