Billionaire investor Elon Musk has always done things his own way, from designing space rockets to manufacturing electric cars.

Chinese acquirers will spend $1.5 trillion (€1.28tn) buying companies and investing overseas in the next decade, 70% more than the previous 10 years, even as regulators at home and abroad block deals, multinatonal law firm Linklaters has said.

US President W Bush was unaware of the pending sale of shipping operations at six major US seaports to a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates until the deal had already been approved by his administration, the White House said yesterday.