MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Elon Musk will not face charges for promising to give $1 million to voters in a 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court election because no jury would find that constituted election bribery, a state prosecutor said Tuesday.
Musk, the founder of SpaceX and CEO of Tesla, was deeply involved in the effort to flip majority control of the highest court in battleground Wisconsin last year. But the candidate he and Republicans backed lost to Democratic-supported Susan Crawford, whose victory preserved liberals’ majority on the court.
The bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission in July referred two complaints to the Brown County district attorney’s office for possible charges, saying Musk likely broke the law. La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke was later appointed as a special prosecutor because of a conflict of interest.
At issue was a social media post Musk made days before the 2025 Supreme Court election saying he would hold an event in Green Bay that would be open only to those who had voted.
“I will also personally hand over two checks for a million dollars each in appreciation for you taking the time to vote,” Musk said in the post.
Less than a day later, Musk replaced that post with one saying attendance was limited to those who signed a petition he was circulating against activist judges and the money would be given to people who would advocate for that petition.
Gruenke, a Democrat, announced on Tuesday that he didn’t think he could convince a jury that Musk had made a bribe with the posts.
“Either way the first post is perceived, in the end nobody was paid anything of value for voting or promising to vote,” Gruenke said in a statement announcing his decision. “Even if I could convince a jury that the original post was still a bribe, I do not believe that a jury would convict Elon Musk of a crime after considering the intent, the second post, and the fact nothing of value was ever given to anyone for voting for an incident occurring in March of 2025.”
If you strip away the “famous name” and the large amount of money involved, “it is a simple case of a poorly worded statement that was corrected and brought into compliance with the law,” Gruenke said.
Musk’s representatives have not responded to requests for comment.
Spending on the Wisconsin Supreme Court election topped $100 million, making it the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history. Musk and groups he supported spent at least $20 million backing Brad Schimel in that election. Schimel lost by 10 percentage points to Crawford.
Wisconsin’s Democratic attorney general sued to stop Musk from handing over the checks to two voters, but was rejected by state courts.
Musk’s attorneys argued in legal filings in 2025 that Musk was exercising his free speech rights with the giveaways and any attempt to restrict that would violate the Wisconsin and U.S. constitutions.
Scott Bauer, The Associated Press
