Elon Musk depicted as both liar and visionary in Tesla tweet trial

Elon Musk speaking at the SATELLITE Conference and Exhibition in Washington(Susan Walsh/AP/PA)

Elon Musk was depicted as either a liar who callously jeopardised the savings of “regular people” or a well-intentioned visionary as lawyers delivered opening statements at a trial focused on a Tesla buyout that never happened.

Lawyers on opposing sides drew the starkly different portraits of Mr Musk for a nine-person jury that will hear the three-week trial. The case is focused on two August 2018 tweets that the billionaire posted on Twitter, which he now owns.