As ever with the billionaire, the line between genius and insanity is always blurred
There is a great deal to admire about Elon Musk. His quest to create the carmaker of the future from nothing in itself is enough to cement his visionary status. Few thought it was possible, and yet when it comes to electrification, the established automotive giants from VW and General Motors, to Renault and Toyota, are still playing catch-up to Tesla.
Musk has been relentless in pushing boundaries. Though his SolarCity venture is yet to take off in the same way, he is convinced that civilisation will one day be largely powered by the sun’s rays.
The tycoon also wants to construct a network of giant transport tunnels to solve city congestion, conquer space and eventually colonise Mars. Many people, and not just the legion of slightly creepy Tesla fanboys, regard him as the greatest entrepreneur alive today.
His $44bn (£38bn) takeover of Twitter, in the name of free speech, however, already looks unlikely to count among Musk’s world-changing achievements. On the contrary, it has all the makings of being his biggest failure to date.