The Tesla and X chief executive has been ordered to attend a hearing on Thursday over a civil suit accusing his political action committee of running an illegal lottery and trying to influence voters.
Elon Musk has been summoned to an emergency court hearing on Thursday over the $1m prizes he has been awarding registered voters in swing states.
The Tesla and X chief executive has been ordered by a judge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to address a civil case by the city’s top prosecutor to stop Mr Musk and his political action committee, America PAC, from giving the cash away.
The suit accuses Mr Musk of operating an illegal lottery and trying to influence voters in next week’s presidential election between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
Mr Musk and his PAC are backing Mr Trump, the Republican nominee.
The controversial billionaire promised to give $1m (£772,000) each day to resgistered voters in swing states who have signed his online free speech and gun rights petition.
The first $1m was awarded to a man named John Dreher during a campaign event in Pennsylvania on 19 October.
Both Mr Trump and Ms Harris have made repeated visits to the state as they fight for its 19 electoral votes.
Mr Musk is the world’s richest person and is worth $274bn (£210bn), according to Forbes, so the approximate $17m (£13m) he’s vowed to give away is a tiny fraction of his wealth.
The 53-year-old had donated $75m (£58m) to American PAC in the period up to mid-October.