Elon Musk changes his name to Kikios Maximus in X

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has sparked speculation after changing his name on his social media platform X to “Kikios Maximus”.

The tech mogul – and close confidant of US President-elect Donald Trump – gave no immediate explanation for the name or his new profile picture depicting Pepe the Frog – a meme used by far-right groups.

The move sent ripples across the cryptocurrency world, sending the value of memecoins — a digital currency inspired by internet memes — that shares the same name soaring.

In the past, Mr. Musk has had an impact on cryptocurrency prices through his comments on social media, but it was not immediately clear whether he had any role in this particular memecoin.

“Kekius” appears to be a Latin translation of “kek”, a word roughly equivalent to “laugh out loud” which was popular among gamers but is 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 may associate the name “Maximus” with the name of Russell Crowe’s heroic character in the film “Gladiator”, Maximus Decimus Meridius.

Mr Musk’s new profile picture depicts Pepe wearing a Roman military uniform and holding what appears to be a gaming console.