Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, and owner of X (formerly Twitter), has been hit with a proposed class action lawsuit over his $1 million-a-day giveaway, which participants claim was fraudulent.
The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in federal court in Austin, Texas, accuses Musk and his America PAC organization of misleading voters into signing a petition by promising random drawings for the giveaway, but instead selecting winners in advance.
The complaint was brought by Jacqueline McAferty, an Arizona resident who signed the petition, and alleges that Musk’s campaign drove traffic to his social media platform, X, and collected personal information from participants, which they could later sell.
McAferty is seeking at least $5 million in damages for all individuals who participated in the giveaway.
The petition, which promised participants a chance to win $1 million a day, was part of Musk’s broader political push to support free speech and gun rights.
The giveaway was targeted at registered voters in seven key battleground states, and Musk’s America PAC promoted it heavily online.
However, McAferty claims that, despite the public claim of random selection, the winners had already been chosen, making the giveaway fraudulent.
The legal action comes one day after a Philadelphia judge denied a request from the city’s district attorney, Larry Krasner, to stop the giveaway, which Krasner called an illegal lottery.
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While the ruling was seen as largely symbolic, as Musk does not intend to continue the giveaway after the U.S. presidential election, the lawsuit adds to the legal challenges surrounding Musk’s controversial promotion.
Musk, who has openly supported Republican candidate Donald Trump in the upcoming election, has not yet responded publicly to the lawsuit.
Neither Musk nor McAferty’s attorneys have commented on the case as of now.
