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Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla. / AP, Yonhap News.

Billionaire Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and CEO of Tesla, has been referred to prosecutors after allegations were raised that his large cash giveaways to voters during the 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court election violated state election laws.

According to CNN on July 14 (local time), the Wisconsin Elections Commission has referred a complaint—which alleges that Musk's $1 million giveaways to voters ahead of the election were illegal—to the Brown County District Attorney's Office.

The District Attorney's Office must now review whether the actions violated laws against election bribery to determine if criminal charges are warranted, and they are required to report their findings back within 40 days.

The Commission believes Musk may have violated state law by inducing people to vote through social media posts that offered $1 million to voters.

Indeed, Musk personally handed over $1 million checks to two voters during a political rally held at the KI Convention Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on March 30, 2025.

During the campaign, Musk publicly endorsed Republican candidate Brad Schimel and poured at least $20 million into the race. However, Schimel ultimately lost to Democratic candidate Susan Crawford by a 10-percentage-point margin.

With total spending exceeding $100 million, the race went down in history as the most expensive judicial election in U.S. history.

Separately, the government watchdog group Wisconsin Democracy Campaign filed a lawsuit last June seeking to permanently bar Musk from making cash giveaways to voters in the state. That case remains pending in the Brown County Circuit Court.

Musk’s legal team has hit back, arguing that the cash giveaways did not target or oppose any specific candidate, but were rather an exercise of free speech. They contend that any attempt to restrict these payments violates both the Wisconsin and U.S. constitutions.

                                                                                                           Park Jin-sook