Give him a fluffy white cat and a private island and Elon Musk would be a Bond villain straight out of central casting. With his vast wealth, power and endless ambition, he makes Ernst Stavro Blofeld look like a shrinking violet.

Sir Keir Starmer has begun this year in an explosive row with tech billionaire Elon Musk, which broke out after the Tesla boss criticised the government for rejecting a national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal.

Having established power over Republican politics in the US, the industrialist is now intervening in European politics—and is himself becoming a leader of the international far right.

The SEC alleges Elon Musk violated federal securities law by failing to disclose his more than 5% stake in Twitter on time.

The financial regulator wants Musk to pay a civil penalty and remedies over alleged “unjust enrichment” ahead of his 2022 purchase of the social network.