Alex Gibney, director of the new documentary Musk , discusses the rise of the world’s first trillionaire.
Page A212From§Eachthe evening edition — 13 October 2026
Elon Musk named America's top midterm donor and accused by France of election interference on the same day.
As it ran on the front
Today we are making a single political donor large enough to be mistaken for a party, which is not a dish you get over here. You will need one man, $366 million, and a federal filing due Thursday that has not been cooked yet.
Measure before you fold: more than $276 million of it arrived since July alone, on top of the nearly $300 million he put behind Donald Trump's 2024 re-election. None of it has touched the pan until Thursday's filing says so.…
Clive A party of one. I've been saying for years that's the only kind worth joining — mine, specifically, once the collection is out.
Gary Your collection is a few poems and a biro. Call me when it's winning somewhere that isn't this kitchen.
Begin on 7 September, when Germany's AfD won a regional election in Saxony-Anhalt and its candidate, Ulrich Siegmund, thanked him by name for his "clear and highly important perspective on the political developments of our time." Money and opinion go into the same bowl here, and nobody separates them again.
Rob Thanked by name. Heavy, that. Nobody's thanked me by name since I did the shopping, and I did do the shopping.
Keith You bought lentils, Rob. I could move his old opinions as a job lot if the shopping's what we're calling it now.
By 22 September, with his spending already put at $100 million, Common Dreams asked why Democrats hadn't taken the shot. On Tuesday, France's foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, warned of foreign interference ahead of its 2027 election and named him for using X to sway debate — the same day the Guardian put his total at $366 million, ahead of Thursday's filing.
This is not new dough. In December 2022, Twitter suspended the accounts of several journalists who had reported unfavorably on him, after an incident involving his son's location data. Same bowl, four years apart; only the sum has grown.
Le Monde filed this one as "online harassment" of Europe's leaders. At home the Guardian simply calls him the "biggest donor" of the midterms cycle; nobody has decided yet which word is the polite one.
Take the $366 million by both ends: more than $276 million moved in under three months, and the filing meant to account for it arrives only Thursday, after the spending. You will be looking for the ceiling past which one person cannot buy an election. There is none; that is what the filing is instead of.
Clive No ceiling. I've long said the attic is where the real work happens — unbothered, unfiled, un-everything.
Rob Unfiled. That's the meter, that is. Nobody's filed anything on the meter in years and I'm still the one reading it by candle.
It serves the Senate races he is targeting to decide who controls the chamber; the bill goes to whichever side is still counting the $366 million once Thursday's filing lands.
Gary Senate control. Put me down for a stake in that too — cheaper than fixing the boiler, and at least someone else's filing is already late.
“Funny how it works: $366 million makes you America's top donor, but the same guy saying things online makes him France's top election threat. It's the same business model, buying influence here and exporting it for free over there, and somebody's left holding the filing.”
“He's a private citizen spending his own money — that's protected speech, that's the First Amendment, and France doesn't get a vote on how we run our elections. Except now France says he's interfering in theirs, which is, well, also just speech, same amendment, works both ways — did I say that? Forget it.”
The receipts
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot warned Tuesday of foreign interference in France's presidential election in spring 2027. He singled out US tech billionaire Elon Musk for using social network X to attempt to influence debate in European democracies.
Musk’s midterm donations, mostly for rightwing candidates and causes, surpass his contributions to Trump in 2024 Send us your questions on how the US economy is shaping the midterm elections Elon Musk has become the biggest political donor of the 2026 US midterm elections cycle, funneling about $366m into political groups and campaigns…
· 'Take the Open Shot': Democrats Rebuked for Refusing to Target Elon Musk Over $100 Million Midterm Spending Spree from the morgue, 22 Sep 2026
· Far-Right Alternative for Germany Thanks Elon Musk After Regional Election Win from the morgue, 7 Sep 2026
· French President Emmanuel Macron announces an emergency summit in Paris, France, between European leaders following a controversial speech given by U.S. Vice President JD Vance at the Munich Security from the morgue, 15 Feb 2025
· Twitter suspends the accounts of several journalists who reported on negative news relating to Elon Musk and Twitter. Musk accuses these journalists of posting links to real-time location data. The su from the morgue, 15 Dec 2022
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.