Musk uses $20bn fortune to buy out the neighbourhood – The Wall Street Journal
The main characteristic that many billionaires, pop stars and ultra-successful people have in common is an over-the-top lifestyle and FU attitude, although there are exceptions. Used to getting their way and basking in the admiration of others; when people criticise them, some ultra-rich do not always take kindly to it. An example of this is Elon Musk who was offended by the British cave diver who told him to stick his mini-submarine where it hurts when he offered it to look for the missing Thai children and their teacher. Not a very nice comment from a man seen to be a hero, but Musk's response was one of those knee-jerk reactions that the super-rich and powerful feel they are more entitled to use than ordinary people. Musk retorted calling Vernon Unsworth a 'paedo guy' and is currently defending himself in a defamation case for the insult. In court, Musk revealed that he did not know his precise net worth, but testified that $20bn was a reasonable estimate. He is probably going to lose some of that in this defamation claim. Musk has been using his wealth to buy houses in his street around him in Los Angeles; another 'strategy adopted by a number of the mega-wealthy'. The singer, Ed Sheeran has also been criticised for a similar tactic and is said to be creating a mini-village in Suffolk in the United Kingdom and even bought the house of one neighbour who complained about all his building projects. The Wall Street Journal has a breakdown of how Musk is buying up the neighbourhood in Los Angeles. – Linda van Tilburg