With Twitter in his sights, Musk creates new model of 21st century billionaire

FILE PHOTO: SpaceX founder and Tesla CEO Elon Musk looks on as he visits the construction site of Tesla's gigafactory in Gruenheide, near Berlin, Germany, May 17, 2021. REUTERS/Michele Tantussi/File Photo

NEW YORK (Reuters) - With a stable of businesses ranging from electric cars to private rocket ships, iconoclastic billionaire Elon Musk has become the richest person in the world by building a fortune firmly planted in 21st century technology. With an all-cash $43 billion offer to buy Twitter Inc, Musk may soon emulate the tycoons of the past by controlling a media platform that contributed to his rise to fame.

Musk, the chief executive of electric car maker Tesla, revealed the takeover bid in a regulatory filing made public on Thursday and said he would take Twitter private.