Intermittent trillionaire Elon Musk settled a class action lawsuit Thursday over allegations that his political action committee engaged in fraud in the 2024 presidential election by falsely telling voters they had a chance to randomly win $1 million when the winners were actually predetermined.
“The Parties have reached a Settlement and respectfully request that the Court vacate all deadlines and stay further proceedings for a period of thirty (30) days to allow the Parties to finalize and execute the settlement agreement and file a Motion for Preliminary Approval,” a one-page filing reads, according to online court records.
As part of an effort to get President Donald Trump elected, Musk set up the committee ― America PAC ― a month before the election. Using his PAC, Musk told Trump supporters in key battleground states they had a chance to win $1 million if they gave away their personal identifying information and signed an online petition in support of “free speech and the right to bear arms.”
While Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner went to court to accuse Musk of running an illegal lottery scheme, a Pennsylvania judge allowed the payouts to continue after attorneys for Musk’s PAC successfully argued that it wasn’t actually a lottery because winners were selected “based on their suitability” to serve as spokespeople for the PAC and had earned the $1 million as payment.
So while Musk doled out millions to more than a dozen winners, none of them were randomly selected.
Multiple lawsuits were filed against Musk in the days after the election. Joy Havrick of Arizona alleged in a complaint that she was treated as a “marketing prop.”
“Had Plaintiff been aware that the lottery was not random, or that she did not have a fair chance to win the prize, or that her selection hinged on her perceived favorability to Defendants as a marketing prop, she would not have signed or supported the America PAC petition and would not have provided her PII [Personal Identifying Information] to Defendants,” the complaint said.
Attorney Mark Bankston, who has previously represented Sandy Hook families and successfully sued conspiracy theorist Alex Jones for defamation, represents Havrick. Bankston told JS he is “unable to comment at this time.”
Details of the settlement, including how much Musk will ultimately have to pay, were not immediately disclosed.
A lawyer for Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.