The publicity was a potential boon for AfD, which has been frozen out of mainstream politics, in part, because its leaders have downplayed Nazi atrocities.

Elon Musk urged Germans to vote for the far-right Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) in an upcoming election in a conversation with its leader on his social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that highlighted the US billionaire’s growing ambition to sway European politics.

Musk is using his influential social media platform X to endorse the far right in Germany ahead of its Feb. 23 election.

Elon Musk's controversial $1 million swing state giveaway concluded with the final prize going to a man who worked on Donald Trump's campaign.

Tyler VanAkin was pictured on election day at an Atlanta airport as the final winner of the contest run by Musk’s pro-Trump campaign group, which offered $1mn prizes to registered voters in swing states who signed a petition “in support of the constitution”.

Musk's Tesla stake rose by $111 billion — 65% — last year. All but $2 billion of Musk’s Tesla gain and about 98% of what other Tesla shareholders gained came after Election Day, when Musk began hanging out extensively with Donald Trump and started calling himself Trump’s “first buddy.