He calls himself Kekius Maximus, puts “Pepe the Frog” in his profile picture: joke, hidden message… how Elon Musk creates buzz on X

Le déroutant milliardaire Elon Musk a changé de surnom sur la plateforme X pour se baptiser “Kekius Maximus” (photo d'illustration). MAXPPP – Algi Febri Sugita

Confusing billionaire Elon Musk changed his moniker on the X platform on Tuesday to “Kekius Maximus,” sparking widespread speculation that the pseudonym appears to be a mashup of a far-right symbol, a memecoin and the character from the movie Gladiator.

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Close to President Donald Trump, to whom he has become an important advisor, the boss of Tesla and SpaceX has also swapped his profile picture for an image of “Pepe the Frog”, a popular cartoon character who had nevertheless been associated with the extreme right during Donald Trump's first election and described as a “sign of hate” by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

As usual, Elon Musk, the richest man on the planet, who bought Twitter to rename it X in 2022, has not given any explanation for these changes that have caused a buzz.

What an allusion ?

His new pseudonym may be an allusion to Maximus Decimus Meridius – the Roman general played by Russell Crowe in Gladiator in 2000 – and to “kek”, an expression frequently used by far-right Internet users and many trolls to replace “lol”.

Before to change his pseudonym, Mr. Musk had posted an announcement on X: “Kekius Maximus will soon reach level 80 in hardcore PoE”. PoE is an apparent reference to the popular video game Path of Exile.

Immediate effects

Following Mr. Musk's pseudonym change, the value of the memecoin Kekius Maximus — a cryptocurrency inspired by an internet meme — soared nearly 1,400% Tuesday afternoon, according to the website CoinGecko, as people speculate whether it's a joke or a hidden message in favor of cryptocurrencies.

The billionaire will be a key figure under Trump, who has appointed him to head a commission on “government efficiency”, a body created to cut federal budgets, one of the hobby horses of Donald Trump and Elon Musk.