Elon Musk is, more or less, a rogue state. His intentions are self-serving and nefarious, and his nation-state level resources allow him to flout the law with impunity. To put it into context, if dollars were metres, Musk’s money would be enough to take him to Mars and back, while a mere millionaire could only make a round trip from Paris to Amsterdam.

The sheer immorality of any one person possessing so much wealth is obvious to most people with basic amounts of empathy. But when it comes to Musk and the other 14 people worth more than $100bn, the morality of it is almost a secondary concern. Their individual wealth is a society-distorting threat to democracy in the same way that economics has always recognised monopolies to be dangerous to a functional market.

For $250m in direct support – and an additional $44bn for control over X, nee Twitter, and with it the algorithm behind what 300 million users see on their timelines – Musk was rewarded with a co-presidency. What else are we supposed to make of his appearance at Notre Dame’s reopening, joining Donald Trump and various heads of state?

X’s valuation may be dropping as swiftly as its user count, but that’s missing the point behind the purchase. X served its purpose by helping elect Trump, with one study suggesting the platform’s algorithm was tweaked to boost conservative-leaning users. That Tesla stock has surged........

© The Guardian