No single person has spent more money to harm EVs than Tesla CEO Elon Musk — SkimNews
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- Elon Musk spent $276 million on anti-EV political campaigns in just the last three months, bringing his 2026 midterm total to $366 million per new FEC filings, making him the single biggest political donor this cycle and exceeding his $288 million 2024 election spend.
- Tesla has acknowledged in quarterly reports and government filings that Musk's political activity is harming the company and costing it billions in lost revenue, has asked him to stop, and yet his spending has accelerated in response.
- Tesla is the only EV brand with negative perception, a reputation hit directly correlated to Musk's political activities — with lost business opportunities in Canada, Australia, Germany, and Denmark, falling sales in most territories, protests, and embarrassed owners.
- Musk publicly claimed Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico was in a mental hospital in Ohio while Talarico was actually on the campaign trail in Texas; Talarico is running against scandal-ridden Republican AG Ken Paxton, who has been personally accommodating to Musk.
- The Republican Party is broadly anti-EV at every level — opposing electric vehicles, following through on promises to harm the industry, causing US job losses, and making EV charging harder — a stance Musk has financially backed despite running the country's largest EV maker.
- Musk's political spending serves personal self-dealing more than Tesla's interests, including his work toward a Tesla/SpaceX 'chimera' merger that would dilute existing shareholders while concentrating voting rights and capital in Musk's hands.
Why it matters: Tesla has acknowledged billions in lost revenue and lost business in Canada, Australia, Germany, and Denmark directly tied to Musk's political spending, yet the board has not intervened — meaning every retirement account with Tesla or SpaceX exposure is absorbing losses while Musk uses the same position to pursue self-deal-driven dilution, including a potential Tesla/SpaceX merger that would concentrate even more voting power in his hands.
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