“You know, I’ve generally found that when I get involved in politics, it ends up badly,” Elon Musk mused on Nikhil Kamath’s podcast in November.

Oh, we know, Elon, we most definitely know. The world is still reeling from the tech billionaire’s little experiment in politicking last year. Musk’s “department of government efficiency” (Doge) slashed federal jobs, dismantled foreign aid programmes and left a trail of chaos in its wake. It’s not clear whether any taxpayer money was saved, but experts are warning a lot of lives will be lost. By one calculation, there could be about 14 million excess deaths across the globe by 2030 if the US fails to restore aid funding. Thanks, Elon!

Musk’s stint in politics didn’t just end badly for people reliant on US aid; his own brand took a beating. Last August, a Gallup poll found he was the most unpopular person in a list of global figures. He also had a highly publicised fallout with Donald Trump last summer. As you may remember, Musk declared that he was going to start his own political party and Trump called his former “first buddy” a “

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