Just In: Elon Musk and other billionaires invest staggering sums into electing Trump, plus other takeaways from third-quarter filings… See More

Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks as former President Donald Trump looks on during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on October 5, 2024. Brian Snyder/Reuters/File

CNN
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Some of the world’s wealthiest figures – led by conservative donor Miriam Adelson and tech billionaire Elon Musk – have funneled tens of millions of dollars into political groups in recent months to boost Donald Trump’s White House bid, new reports filed Tuesday with federal regulators show.

Musk, the world’s richest person, gave nearly $75 million to a pro-Trump super PAC that he helped form over the summer – a massive cash infusion aimed at helping turn out voters in key battleground states. Adelson, a staunch Trump backer and heir to a casino fortune, gave even more, plowing $95 million into another outside group backing the former president, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission covering the three months ended September 30.

Altogether, just three billionaires – Musk, Adelson and Midwestern packaging magnate Richard Uihlein – donated roughly $220 million in a three-month period to groups backing the Republican’s candidacy.

Their staggering donations underscore the crucial role that a handful of billionaire megadonors are playing in Trump’s efforts to edge past his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, as their race has intensified

Harris has set a blistering pace – raising $1 billion since she became the Democratic standard-bearer in late July – a milestone achieved faster than any other presidential contender. And Tuesday’s filings show that a high-dollar fundraising committee that channels money to her campaign and aligned Democratic committees, took in $633 million during the third quarter – four times the amount raised by Trump’s equivalent fundraising arm in that time.

But Harris’ team has implored her supporters to send in even more – highlighting both the billionaire backing for Trump’s candidacy and her campaign’s scramble to reach the still-undecided voters in battleground states that her aides hope will break for the vice president in the final sprint to Election Day.

In the battle for control of Congress, meanwhile, individual Democratic incumbents and candidates in some key Senate and House races widened their financial advantage over their Republican opponents. Deep-pocketed Republicans donors also tried to close the gap by boosting a GOP super PAC working to seize the Senate majority.