The billionaire’s posts began with a laboured gag and ended with a dangerous intervention into the reporting of the conflict in Gaza
A year ago this week, when he completed the purchase of Twitter for $44bn, Elon Musk tweeted “the bird is freed”. Billionaires like nothing more than casting themselves as popular liberators, but the acquisition fitted the pattern of his ever-expanding empire.
Musk has colonised areas of the economy from which public funding and regulation have been in retreat. His carmaker, Tesla, is shaping the future of transport; SpaceX, meanwhile, has in many ways replaced Nasa on the final frontier (so far this year it has launched 75 spacecraft).
More Stories
Xi Jinping tells Alibaba’s Jack Ma and Chinese tech chiefs to ‘show their talent’
‘I felt nothing but disgust’: Tesla owners vent their anger at Elon Musk
Nigeria sues crypto giant Binance for $81.5bn in economic losses and back tax