Americans voted in the midterms on November 3 and the results point to a Democratic comeback. Apart from this win, the money behind Donald Trump and his party has been a big part of this election story. Four tech billionaires stand out: Elon Musk, Larry Ellison, Marc Benioff and Michael Dell. Their support has taken very different forms: giant election donations, a hidden contribution, a White House ballroom pledge and a multibillion-dollar gift tied to Trump’s signature savings program. Here is what each of them has given and said.
Elon Musk: the biggest donor of the 2026 midterms
Musk is the clear leader. An analysis by The New York Times suggests he gave $474 million to Republican candidates, including more than $220 million in Texas alone in this year’s midterm elections. That makes him the top donor of the 2026 midterms by a wide margin.
Where did the money go?
America PAC: His own super PAC received $216 million. The group has been active in more than 40 House and Senate races. He put in another $77 million in the first half of October alone, according to Newsweek.Senate leadership fund: This main super PAC for Senate Republicans received $168 million. Of that, $158 million was passed on to Texas PAC, the biggest backer of Republican Ken Paxton.Congressional leadership fund: It received $30 million to help protect the Republican House majority.Lone star liberty PAC: His trust gave $10 million to the main outside group supporting Paxton.This is not new for him. In 2024, Musk spent nearly $300 million backing Trump and Republicans.In a post on X on October 30, Musk gave a “game over” warning “for America”.My biggest concern is that if there is a clean sweep by Democrats of the House, Senate and Presidency in 2028, they will:1. Make DC and Puerto Rico states to gain a strong majority in the Senate.2. Open the borders and legalize everyone living in America illegally to cement a permanent majority.3. Increase the size of the Supreme Court to gain an immediate majority.This would result in America becoming a permanent one-party state and the end of democracy in any meaningful sense of the word.All that is needed to ensure this doesn’t happen is 51 Republican senators in 2029. That is why you should vote for Republican senators this election. Other reasons are irrelevant compared to this one.It would be game over for America
Larry Ellison: a $45 million gift that stayed hidden
The Oracle co-founder has been far less visible than Musk. The Wall Street Journal reported that he gave about $45 million to a nonprofit backing Trump’s 2024 campaign, bringing him deeper into Trump’s circle. The gift was not subject to disclosure rules and had not been reported until June 2026.Federal filings suggest Trump’s brokerage accounts bought and sold Oracle stock this year, with each transaction topping $1 million. The Trump Organization says the president does not pick his investments. Fortune noted that Oracle later landed a starring role in the $500 billion AI buildout.What he has said. At the White House event announcing the Stargate AI project, Ellison told Trump “We certainly couldn’t do this without you”. Trump called him the “CEO of everything”.
Michael Dell: $6.25 billion for ‘Trump Accounts’
Dell’s support is the biggest in dollar terms, and it comes as a charitable gift rather than a campaign donation. At a White House press conference in December 2025, Trump announced that Michael and Susan Dell were donating $6.25 billion to fund “Trump Accounts”.Here is how the gift works:The money goes to the US Treasury and will be deposited in $250 amounts into accounts for 25 million children aged 10 or younger. It targets children in zip codes where the median income is $150,000 or less. The accounts were created under Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The pledge is more than double the $2.9 billion the Dells had given in total before. The program has also drawn some praise from Democrats.At a White House roundtable in June 2025, Dell thanked Trump for his “visionary leadership” on the issue. At the December event, he told the president it was a great honor to be at the White House.Trump has returned the praise. He wrote, “TWO GREAT PEOPLE. I LOVE DELL!!!” In July 2026, he told Americans to buy Dell computers, and the stock rose more than 7%.
Marc Benioff: from liberal donor to Trump supporter
Benioff’s shift has been the most surprising. He has historically spent millions of dollars on both sides but as per a Vox report, a major share has gone to the Blue side. His support for Trump shows up in a ballroom pledge and in his public comments, not in campaign donations.A list obtained by The Washington Post shows Benioff committed $1 million to Trump’s White House ballroom the day after Trump publicly thanked him for putting him on the cover of Time. Salesforce separately made two $1 million commitments.The Salesforce CEO drew intense backlash after voicing support for President Donald Trump and backing the deployment of National Guard troops to San Francisco – a proposal strongly opposed by local city leaders. Benioff later walked back his remarks and apologised for calling in the Guard.The controversy arrived alongside reports that Salesforce pitched its artificial intelligence tools to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to assist the agency with recruitment and staffing amid expanding immigration enforcement operations.
Leave a Reply