The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, has sparked speculation after he changed his name on his social media platform X to “Kekius Maximus”.
The tech mogul – and close confidant of US President-elect Donald Trump – did not immediately offer an explanation for the name or his new profile picture, which features the character Pepe the Frog – a meme used by far-right groups.
The move sent the cryptocurrency world into a tizzy, sending the value of memecoin — a digital currency inspired by Internet memes — that shares the same name, skyrocketing.
In the past, Mr. Musk influenced the prices of cryptocurrencies with his comments on social networks, but it was not immediately clear if he was involved in this memecoin.
“Kekius” appears to be a Latinization of “kek,” a word roughly equivalent to “laugh out loud” popularized by gamers but now often associated with the alt right.
“Kek” is also the name of the ancient Egyptian god of darkness, who is sometimes depicted with the head of a frog.
Many people would associate “Maximus” with the name of Russell Crowe’s heroic character in the movie Gladiator, Maximus Decimus Meridius.
Mr. Musk’s new profile picture shows Pepe in a Roman military costume holding what appears to be a games console.
