Musk laughs off election drubbing with space lasers joke

Elon Musk cracked jokes early Wednesday morning after the Republican candidates he spent record sums supporting got drubbed in a historic midterm election. Why it matters: No one has ever spent as much as Musk for so little payoff — especially in Texas , which ended up with a massive blue wave. He spent an estimated $445 million in this cycle, making him the largest individual donor in modern history. What they're saying: " Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn't work this time 🤷‍♂️," Musk posted to X just before 1:15am ET. The intrigue: Musk also nodded at the results in the Texas governor's race, where anti-data center Democrat Gina Hinojosa won a shock victory . "Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now," he wrote . What to watch: It's not clear how the massive power shift in Texas will affect Musk's ambitions for his companies in the state — or how the loss will impact his appetite for more spending in 2028.