Musk loses $45 billion after Texas flips Democratic in midterm sweep

Elon Musk lost $45 billion in net worth after his record $474 million midterm spending failed to prevent a Democratic sweep, including in his home state of Texas, which flipped blue. Musk invested over $212 million into Texas Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton's failed campaign, plus $12.3 million in state political groups, nearly half his total donations. Democrats won all five Senate seats his America PAC backed most, with voters citing AI and data centre concerns as key factors. Texas voters elected Democrat Gina Hinojosa as governor and James Talarico as senator, both pledging to restrict data centres. Of 41 data centre ballot measures across 10 states, all but one are on track to fail, reflecting widespread anti-industry sentiment.