Nobody needs more personal wealth than the average nation. It’s time that we brought the super-rich to heel before it’s too late, our Writer at Large argues.

There's no merit in discussing the so-called ‘business case’ for a $1 trillion pay packet. Issues like corporate responsibility, value and leadership are meaningless compared to this single moral truth: nobody on Earth, nobody who has ever lived or will ever live, deserves a $1 trillion pay deal.

That it’s Elon Musk who has been awarded this obscene package by his Tesla shareholders makes the moral case all the more pertinent and the stink all the more fetid.

Musk is a repellent man. His narcissism is boundless. To my mind, he presents a grave risk to western democracy. He raises the spectre of civil war in Britain. His social media site is a cesspit of violent extremism, pushing disinformation into the lives of its users and warping politics wherever it lays its sulphurous footprint.

Could there be anything more toxic than this beta-male who through his billions can elevate himself to the status of Bond villain?

Weak, emotionally fragile men with their hands on the levers of power are creatures who have brought misery to the pages of history many times over.

However, Musk could be a modern-day saint, rather than a 21st century monster, and that would not make an award of $1 trillion – that’s £760 billion – any more acceptable.

Musk is already the........

© Herald Scotland