Elon Musk is the world's richest man and, for the past year, a persistent political figure, in no small part for his big role helping propel Donald Trump back to the White House.

It's been a year since Musk endorsed Trump for the US presidency ahead of the 2024 election. In a whirlwind year, the multibilionaire entrepreneur has walked the halls of government, confirmed himself as a darling of the political right and seen his public popularity slide on the back of several contraversies.

And as some pundits predicted, the bromance between the world's most powerful man and its richest wouldn't last, with their economic agenda diverging in a spectacular public spat fought across social media just months into the second Trump administration.

Despite his exit from Trump's inner circle, Musk remains a powerful figure. His status as one of the world's wealthiest individuals courts media and public attention like few others before him, thanks to his extensive business interests as the head of technology, automotive and media companies, his political ambitions and his unorthodox personal life.

Born in Pretoria, South Africa, to property developer, engineer and former local politician Errol Musk and Canadian model and dietitian Maye Musk, the billionaire first emigrated to the US in the 1990s.

He co-founded early internet businesses like online city guide Zip2 and financial services platform X.com, which later merged with a similar platform, PayPal.

Today, Musk is probably best known for establishing the private space exploration company SpaceX and providing the initial capital to establish the electric carmaker Tesla, for which he is now credited as a co-founder. He is the chief executive officer of both.

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Other businesses he has founded include tunnel constructor The Boring Company and brain implant developer

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