· He tapped the country's vast wealth from gas for outlandish projects including a huge manmade lake in the Kara Kum desert, a vast cypress forest to change the desert climate, an ice palace outside the capital, a ski resort and a 130ft pyramid.
If years of CBeebies has taught us anything, it's that the more outlandish the puppet-friend, the more beneficial its company will prove to child development.
The exhibition, sponsored by both Clarks and Agent Provocateur, will explore the history of how and why women, and some men, have worn outlandish shoes in the pursuit of a certain look – and the pleasure we derive from shoes, perhaps over any other fashion item.
In the X-Factor economies of Britain and America, you may no longer be able to count on a decent job, affordable home or moderate pension, but still you are offered visions of outlandish success – whether in singing (for the glamorous) or business (for the rest of us).
Its cosmopolitan vibe (all those students from London with their outlandish hair and clothes and their universal love of Joni Mitchell) may have been intimidating, but I didn't have to apologise for my accent or love of theatre any more.
Dr Mark Porter, the leader of the British Medical Association, criticised the "outlandish and unrealistic election pledges" made by all the parties.
Instead, the best views are from the Jeddah-Mecca Highway, where the clocktower appears to rear out of the barren landscape in such an outlandish fashion it looks as if it has been drawn on to the skyline.
It was unique to each and every one who was there and, with each retelling, it seemed to become ever more outlandish.
The suggestions received by the panel in the past few months have ranged from the outlandish – a London Eye-like installation called the Sudarshan Chakra, the spinning disc of death wielded by the god Vishnu – to the everyday: most people asked for parks and promenades and water transport.
Speaking of the double winners, theirs was another season of records at Sun Ra levels: they were both plentiful and outlandish.
But it was Musk's most outlandish technology proposition to date, the "Hyperloop" project proposed in August, that won him the most headlines.
