Elon Musk changes his name to Kekius Maximus on X

The globe’s richest man, Elon Musk, has sparked hazard-taking after changing his name on his social media platform X to “Kekius Maximus”.

The tech mogul – and close confidant of US President-Elect Donald Trump – offered no immediate explanation for the name or his recent profile image which depicts the character Pepe the Frog – a meme that has been used by far-correct groups.

The shift has sent ripples through the cryptocurrency globe, sending the worth of a memecoin – a digital funds inspired by internet memes – that shares the same name skyrocketing.

In the history, Mr Musk has influenced crypto prices with his social media commentary, but it was not immediately obvious if he had any involvement in this particular memecoin.

“Kekius” appears to be a Latinisation of “kek”, a word roughly equivalent to “laugh out noisy” popularised by gamers but now often associated with the alt correct.

“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 link “Maximus” to the name of Russell Crowe’s heroic character in the film Gladiator, Maximus Decimus Meridius.

Mr Musk’s recent profile image depicts Pepe in Roman military dress holding what appears to be a game console.