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Wave, tsunami, historic drubbing that ushered in the lame duck portion of the Trump presidency … Tuesday’s midterm election outcomes have been described in a number of colorful ways.

But for Elon Musk, the whole ordeal was money poorly spent.

Musk is the world’s richest man, but Tuesday’s midterm elections offered a reminder that even a fortune of nearly half a billion dollars can’t guarantee political victories.

Yes, the tech billionaire reportedly spent around $446 million trying to help Republican candidates win races across the country. That was the most money ever spent on an election by someone who wasn’t a candidate. And judging by the results, it was an extraordinarily expensive disappointment.

Musk’s preferred candidates were defeated in races across the country, including Ken Paxton in Texas’ Senate contest and Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio’s gubernatorial race.

More than $200 million of Musk’s spending went toward Texas-related political efforts, making the state a particularly significant part of his election strategy.

The outcome could also complicate Musk’s business ambitions. Texas has become a major destination for data centers, and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott had been an ally of the technology industry.

But Democrat Gina Hinojosa scored a surprise victory over Abbott, potentially changing the political environment for Musk’s plans to expand data center operations in the state.

“Amid data center backlash all across the country, Texas was supposed to be an AI oasis, where people would be able to build data centers no matter what was happening in the rest of America,” Sam Koppelman, publisher of Hunterbrook Media, told Politico. “This election totally changed that.”

Musk appeared to respond to the election results on X Wednesday morning, writing, “Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now.” He followed that post with another attempt at humor:

“Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn’t work this time.”

The billionaire’s political spending could also put him in the sights of the newly empowered Democrats.

With Democrats taking control of Congress, some members of the party are pushing for technology executives to face greater scrutiny on Capitol Hill.

“Voters rejected Republicans in part because they were bought and paid for by AI billionaires,” Democratic Representative Greg Casar of Texas said in a statement Tuesday evening.

“Democrats must hold them accountable instead of cashing their checks.”

Musk’s latest spending spree followed his enormous investment in Republican politics during the 2024 election cycle, when he became one of Donald Trump’s most prominent financial backers. This time, however, his money did not deliver the victories he wanted.

There’s no question that Musk can spend more on politics than most people could imagine.

But the midterms made one thing abundantly clear: Writing enormous checks doesn’t mean voters will fall in line. For a billionaire accustomed to getting his way, that’s a pretty costly lesson.