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As Republicans suffered a landslide defeat and Texas elected its first Democratic governor in more than three decades, one of the biggest losers of the US midterms was not on the ballot: billionaire Elon Musk.<\/strong><\/p>\n The world\u2019s richest man spent nearly half a billion \u200bdollars to back Republican candidates, opens new tab and keep Texas red \u2013 a state home to his automaker Tesla, rocket-to-AI company SpaceX and a planned chipmaking venture \u200cbetween the two.<\/p>\n Those bets unraveled as Democrats seized both chambers of Congress and Gina Hinojosa defeated Greg Abbott in the Texas governor\u2019s race, in a stinging rebuke to US President Donald Trump, a close Musk ally whom the billionaire helped elect.<\/p>\n Elon Musk, who urged his followers on X to vote Republican as recently as Tuesday, now faces a resurgent Democratic Party that he has spent years antagonizing.<\/p>\n The GOP\u2019s largest donor even \u200bthreatened retaliation last month, opens new tab on his social media platform after a report said Democrats were considering probes into his companies if they won midterms. One of Musk\u2019s biggest challenges could be slower approvals for \u2060the data centers crucial to tapping the $28.5 trillion addressable market that SpaceX touted to investors ahead of its IPO.<\/p>\n Analysts and experts expect Democrats to tighten scrutiny of data-center projects \u200band push for construction moratoriums as local opposition grows over electricity costs.<\/p>\n \u201cA Democratic sweep of Congress would put pressure on tech and potentially bring regulatory pressure on everything AI \u200band possibly slow down the wild, wild west growth figures that we see daily and often take for granted,\u201d said Jake Dollarhide, CEO of Longbow Asset Management.<\/p>\n \u201cMusk was the Hail Mary for Republicans leading down to the wire. Unfortunately, his large infusion of cash to back red states could not overcome higher utility bills, prices at the grocery store and prices at the gas pump.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shares of SpaceX \u200bfell 5.5%, while Tesla was down 5.1% as both stocks lagged the broader market.<\/p>\n