With Democrats heavily favored to regain control of the Senate and the House in today's midterms, some of America's most powerful executives have a lot riding on the outcome.

😬 Zoom in: A few in particular have a lot on the line:

1. Elon Musk: The SpaceX and Tesla CEO has spent a fortune to help elect Republicans. The world's richest person could face a political backlash if the GOP loses big.

• Democrats have already called for investigations over his role at the Department of Government Efficiency. And any renewed scrutiny over his SpaceX deals with the U.S. government or his handling of self-driving vehicles at Tesla could undermine his momentum.

2. Jensen Huang: The Nvidia CEO has become a close Trump ally as he seeks to help shape America's AI policy, including preserving Nvidia's right to sell chips to China.

• But in a potential preview of what could come, Sen. Elizabeth Warren has criticized Huang's "backroom" association with the president.

3. and 4. Sam Altman and Dario Amodei: As the heads of OpenAI and Anthropic, the rival AI titans face similar political risks. If the new Congress takes a more adversarial approach to AI and data centers, it could throttle their path to growth.

5. Brian Armstrong: The Coinbase CEO gambled in January by withdrawing his support for the Clarity Act, pushing for changes in crypto's long-sought regulatory framework bill — which then stalled in the Senate.

• If Democrats take control of Congress, reviving the legislation could become even more difficult.

🥊 Reality check: President Trump has relied heavily on executive authority. As long as he's in the White House, his business allies retain something of a shield.

Go deeper

Disney is reportedly planning its third round of cuts this year under new CEO Josh D'Amaro.

• The company plans to lay off thousands of employees, per Bloomberg.
• It is looking to reduce costs in some areas by as much as 20%, while reinvesting some of that savings in other areas, including film and TV programming, theme parks and its cruise ship business, according to the report.

🎬 The big picture: Hollywood is bracing for a cold winter as layoffs and buyouts balloon from consolidation and growth pressure, Sara Fischer writes today for Axios Media Trends.

• Netflix last month said it plans to lay off 1,000 employees, or up to 6% of its workforce, as engagement rates fail to meet growth expectations.
• Skydance is offering employee buyouts ahead of what are expected to be significant cuts to its workforce following Paramounts merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.
• Hello Sunshine is reportedly cutting half of its staff.

Context: Job losses in the media sector are still down significantly year to date compared with 2025, but the makeup of those cuts will likely be similar.

🌮 Taco Bell's same-store sales fell 4% in the period affected by the cyclospora outbreak, but it has since recovered and regained its previous momentum. (AP)

💊 Pfizer raised its revenue outlook despite what CEO Albert Bourla called "very low" sales from COVID vaccines and treatments. (CNBC)

⚾️ Major League Baseball offered to delay the start of a salary cap from 2027 to 2028 as part of a new collective bargaining proposal. MLB is widely expected to enter a work stoppage when the current labor contract expires Dec. 1. (ESPN)

🛍️ Shopify shares plummeted despite a 32% increase in sales after subscriptions were weaker than expected in the company's first revenue miss in more than four years. (Bloomberg)

Dodge is returning to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2027 — 15 years after the brand left the circuit in the wake of its parent company's bankruptcy.

State of play: Dodge — these days owned by Stellantis — will field a two-car team of Dodge Chargers after exiting NASCAR in 2012, officials announced today at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas.

• Automakers often use race car series to propel and refine the engineering and design of their vehicles.
• Dodge will compete with Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota.

Zoom in: To regain entry into NASCAR, Dodge had to go through an 18-month process of computational fluid dynamics testing and wind tunnel testing.

What we're watching: Which NASCAR drivers get behind the wheel of the Dodge Charger.