A lottery that wasn't one. In October 2024, Elon Musk launched a major lottery promising $1 million to signatories of a petition in support of Donald Trump. Among the participants, who live in the famous “swing states”, one would be drawn each day and would receive the jackpot, recalls AP News .
In a message published on October 20, Elon Musk assured that all the signatories had “a daily chance to win a million dollars”. But it was his lawyer himself who denied it. “The beneficiaries […] are not chosen by chanceadmitted the lawyer on Monday, November 4. We know exactly who will be announced as the beneficiary today and tomorrow. »
Justice authorizes the continuation of the lottery
The director of the group behind the petition confirmed the information, explaining that beneficiaries were chosen in advance to ensure “that this was someone whose values aligned” with those of the group. Since then, accusations of scam have multiplied.
Larry Krasner, a Democratic prosecutor in Pennsylvania, called the entire process“scam designed to influence a national election” and demanded its interruption in court. “It was political marketing disguised as a lottery”he lamented, also referring to the use of signatories’ data.
The judge finally authorized the “lottery” to continue until the presidential election. At the same time, Elon Musk pledged to pay more than $70 million to the group to help Donald Trump and the Republicans win the election. The pro-Trump billionaire was absent from the hearing regarding his lottery.
