Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla, at the Viva Tech fair in Paris, France, on Friday, June 16, 2023.
Nathan Laine | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Wednesday he will not donate to the campaigns of either President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump.
“Just to be super clear, I am not donating money to either candidate for US President,” Musk said in a post on his social media site X.
Musk’s tweet came a day after The New York Times reported that last weekend he met with Trump and what the newspaper called a few wealthy Republican donors, in Palm Beach, Florida. The former president’s home, in his Mar-a-Lago club, is in Palm Beach.
Musk is one of the wealthiest people in the world, with an estimated net worth of $195 billion, according to Forbes.
Musk, who also heads SpaceX, could support Trump or Biden in ways other than a direct donation to their campaigns.
He could, for instance, donate to a political action committee backing either contender.
Any major donation he makes could have a significant impact on a candidate’s campaign.
Musk did not respond to an email seeking comment on whether he plans to give to a pro-Biden or pro-Trump PAC.
Despite Musk’s habit of taking political stances on social media, he is not a major, frequent donor to campaigns.
Musk during the 2018 midterm election cycle made a series of contributions to Republican and Democratic committees supporting candidates for Congress for $33,900 apiece.