Elon Musk’s business empire braces for Democratic wave as Texas flips blue

As Republicans suffered a landslide defeat and Texas elected its first Democratic governor in more than three decades, one of the biggest losers of the US midterms was not on the ballot: billionaire Elon Musk. The world’s richest man spent nearly half a billion ​dollars to back Republican candidates, opens new tab and keep Texas red - a state home to his automaker Tesla, rocket-to-AI company SpaceX and a planned chipmaking venture ‌between the two.

Those bets unraveled as Democrats seized both chambers of Congress and Gina Hinojosa defeated Greg Abbott in the Texas governor’s race, in a stinging rebuke to US President Donald Trump, a close Musk ally whom the billionaire helped elect. Musk, who urged his followers on X to vote Republican as recently as Tuesday, now faces a resurgent Democratic Party that he has spent years antagonizing.

The GOP’s largest donor even ​threatened retaliation last month, opens new tab on his social media platform after a report said Democrats were considering probes into his companies if they won midterms.