Musk’s donations to Building America’s Future started by 2022, sources say Group’s revenues climbed from $11M in 2021 to $53M in 2022 Building America’s Future attacked Biden administration on various topics Oct 2 – Elon Musk secretly funded a conservative political group in recent years, according to four people familiar with his donations, illustrating quiet financial support for right-wing causes even before the billionaire entrepreneur in July endorsed former President Donald Trump’s bid for re-election. Two of the people familiar with the donations told Reuters that Musk’s contributions to the organization, Building America’s Future, had started by 2022. One of those people and a third source said the donations amounted to millions of dollars, significantly boosting a group whose advertisements and social media campaigns have criticized the Biden administration and progressive political platforms of the sort that Musk himself has increasingly denounced. (…) The magnate behind ventures including carmaker Tesla, space contractor SpaceX and the social media platform X, Musk for many years was careful to avoid suggestions that he favored either major U.S. political party. As recently as March, months before he publicly backed Trump and announced plans to finance a political action committee to work against Democrats, he wrote on social media: “Just to be super clear, I am not donating money to either candidate for US President.” Donations to Building America’s Future, however, would show he was already using his vast resources to fund right-wing causes. As a non-profit 501(c)(4) group, the organization isn’t required by federal law to disclose its financial backers. Although such groups aren’t allowed to finance candidates’ political campaigns, they can espouse political causes. As such, they are commonly referred to as “dark money” groups – used by political operatives, Democrats and Republicans alike, to hide the financial origins of influence campaigns. In Musk’s case, the four people familiar with his donations told Reuters, the contributions to Building America’s Future remained closely guarded. Three of the people were briefed on the donations by executives at or linked to the organization and the fourth was consulted on the matter by a Musk aide. All spoke with Reuters on the condition that they not be identified by name. Revenues at Building America’s Future, according to government data, climbed from some $11 million in 2021 to about $53 million in 2022, the year two of the people said Musk had already started his donations. The figures are the most recent available from the Internal Revenue Service, which requires tax-exempt organizations to disclose their revenues.
via reuters: Exclusive: Musk funded right-wing political non-profit years before he endorsed Trump, sources say
sieeh auch: Elon Musk Gave Tens of Millions to Republican Causes Far Earlier Than Previously Known The donations were to groups with ties to former Trump aide Stephen Miller and to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s presidential bid Elon Musk’s financial support for Republican causes has been much more extensive and started earlier than previously known. The Tesla CEO quietly gave tens of millions of dollars to groups with ties to Trump aide Stephen Miller and supporters of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s presidential bid, according to people familiar with the matter. The financial contributions, which haven’t previously been reported, show how Musk, who seemed to undergo a rapid political transformation this year, was a major force in funding Republican initiatives and candidates well before starting a super political-action committee in support of former President Donald Trump. They also make him one of the biggest donors to conservative causes, which in combination with his large social-media following makes him one of the most influential figures in U.S. politics. His track record thus far in backing winners, however, is mixed at best. In the fall of 2022, more than $50 million of Musk’s money funded a series of advertising campaigns by a group called Citizens for Sanity, according to people familiar with his involvement and tax filings for the group. The bulk of the ads ran in battleground states days before the midterm elections and attacked Democrats on controversial issues such as medical care for transgender children and illegal immigration. Citizens for Sanity was incorporated in Delaware in June 2022, with salaried employees from Miller’s nonprofit legal group listed as its directors and officers. Miller, a senior aide in Trump’s White House, was an architect of the previous administration’s restrictive immigration policies and a leading backer of its socially conservative initiatives. The following year, Musk gave $10 million in support of DeSantis as he ran for president, people familiar with his donation said. The money was routed through a group called Faithful & Strong Policies, according to the people familiar with the matter. Musk’s contribution to DeSantis’s presidential efforts hasn’t previously been reported. More than half of the money ended up in the coffers of a pro-DeSantis political-action committee called Never Back Down. DeSantis dropped out of the race in January.
