MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Elon Musk will not face charges for promising to give $1 million to voters in a 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court election because no jury would find that constituted election bribery, a state prosecutor said Tuesday.
Musk, the founder of SpaceX and CEO of Tesla, was deeply involved in the effort to flip majority control of the highest court in battleground Wisconsin last year. But the candidate he and Republicans backed lost to Democratic-supported Susan Crawford, whose victory preserved liberals' majority on the court.
The bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission in July referred two complaints to the Brown County district attorney’s office for possible charges, saying Musk likely broke the law. La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke was later appointed as a special prosecutor because of a conflict of interest.
At issue was a social media post Musk made days before the 2025 Supreme Court election saying he would hold an event in Green Bay that would be open only to those who had voted.
“I will also personally hand over two checks for a million dollars each in appreciation for you taking the time to vote,” Musk said in the post.
Less than a day later, Musk replaced that post with one saying attendance was limited to those who signed a petition he was circulating against activist judges and the money would be given to people who would advocate for that petition.
Gruenke, a Democrat, announced on Tuesday that he didn’t think he could convince a jury that Musk had made a bribe with the posts.
“Either way the first post is perceived, in the end nobody was paid anything of value for voting or promising to vote,” Gruenke said in a statement announcing his decision. “Even if I could convince a jury that the original post was still a bribe, I do not believe that a jury would convict Elon Musk of a crime after considering the intent, the second post, and the fact nothing of value was ever given to anyone for voting for an incident occurring in March of 2025.”
If you strip away the “famous name” and the large amount of money involved, “it is a simple case of a poorly worded statement that was corrected and brought into compliance with the law,” Gruenke said.
Musk's representatives have not responded to requests for comment.
Spending on the Wisconsin Supreme Court election topped $100 million, making it the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history. Musk and groups he supported spent at least $20 million backing Brad Schimel in that election. Schimel lost by 10 percentage points to Crawford.
Wisconsin’s Democratic attorney general sued to stop Musk from handing over the checks to two voters, but was rejected by state courts.
Musk’s attorneys argued in legal filings in 2025 that Musk was exercising his free speech rights with the giveaways and any attempt to restrict that would violate the Wisconsin and U.S. constitutions.
FILE - Elon Musk hands over a million dollar check to Nicholas Jacobs during a town hall in Green Bay, Wis., March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps, File)
ATLANTA (AP) — The PGA Tour is reshaping its postseason for 2028 by ending the year with a Tour Championship played over two weeks at different golf courses involving match play.
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp announced the changes Tuesday before the Tour Championship, which has been 72 holes of stroke play for the top 30 players since it began in 1987. Under the current format, whoever wins the tournament is declared the FedEx Cup champion and earns $10 million in official money from the $40 million purse.
Starting in 2028, the BMW Championship — to be held that year at Olympia Fields near Chicago — will be for the leading 90 players on the points list. Points from the season continue, and the No. 1 player will be the season champion with bonus money paid out accordingly.
The top 32 after the BMW Championship will be broken into eight groups of four-player pools for the first week of the Tour Championship. The leading two players from each pool advance to the final week, which will be match play over four days. Even players eliminated early will play through Sunday to determine final positions.
“This sets the stage for a reimagined Tour Championship, a separate, stand-alone competition that will emerge as one of the most difficult tournaments to qualify for and win,” Rolapp said. “It's match play over two weeks, an opportunity to make this an extended moment that commands the attention of golf and sports fans.”
Key details, such as where the final two weeks will be played and how much money will be at stake, have not been announced. The Future Competition Committee is still working on those details, along with the rest of the 2028 schedule overhaul.
Two people with knowledge of the discussions said Sleepy Hollow in New York, Interlachen Golf Club outside Minneapolis and Los Angeles Country Club, which held the 2023 U.S. Open, are under consideration. They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because nothing has been finalized.
“This new format creates an exciting opportunity to showcase some of the most renowned venues in our sport, including places the modern tour has never been before,” Rolapp said.
As for the money, Rolapp said he hoped to have that sorted out by November. Scottie Scheffler earned $23 million from about $100 million in a bonus pool for leading the points list. The $40 million for the Tour Championship is additional — and official money — for the top 30.
“I think there’s an open question how we will allocate that in a new competitive model,” Rolapp said.
The Tour Championship first came to East Lake in Atlanta in 1998 and has been there every year since 2024. Rolapp said it would still be part of the rotation, suggesting the venues would change annually. Currently, the BMW Championship is the only postseason event that moves around.
Under the new format, that means the BMW Championship will offer three trophies — one for the BMW Championship, one for the Western Golf Association that has run the tournament for 126 years and the PGA Tour Championship Series Finale.
The first week of the Tour Championship will have no trophy at all. That's all about being among the 16 players who advance to the final event.
Also undecided is whether a corporate title sponsor will be involved. FedEx took over in 2007 when the PGA Tour attempted a postseason for a clear finish to a golf season that for decades had been defined by the four majors.
The format has changed five times since 2007 in an attempt to define a season champion without taking away from whoever played the best golf that year.
This will be the first time match play, the most fickle format in golf, will be used in the postseason. Match play was last used on the PGA Tour in 2023, a separate World Golf Championship. One of the concerns was the television product having only two players the last day.
In the 2028 format, everyone plays all four days, with other matches deciding final positions. The winner will be the only player who didn't lose a match.
See AP’s full golf coverage here
FILE - PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp speaks before a practice round of the Tour Championship golf tournament, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)
