Elon Musk adopted the moniker " Kekius Maximus " on X Tuesday, sparking speculation among his 210 million followers about his mysterious new handle that is a mash-up of an alt-right symbol, a memecoin , and the lead character of the movie "Gladiator." ET Year-end Special Reads 2024 Rewind: Elections, extreme weather, sporting glories, moments that made history, and heartfelt goodbyes Sensex & Nifty in 2025: Predictions, targets, must-have stocks for the new year From Adani bribery allegations to PayTM Bank ban: Six shocks that rocked India Inc in 2024 Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and a confidant of US President-elect Donald Trump , also replaced his profile picture with one of " Pepe the Frog ," a popular cartoon character, wearing ancient Roman attire and holding a video game joystick. In typical Musk fashion, the billionaire tech mogul and owner of X -- formerly Twitter -- offered no explanation about the new username and avatar, but the move triggered immediate ripple effects.
The change roiled the cryptocurrency world, sending the value of a memecoin -- a digital currency inspired by an internet meme -- with the same name skyrocketing. It also sent internet sleuths hunting for answers: Was the name change just for the laughs? Was there a hidden message? Was this another thinly-disguised attempt to jolt the crypto markets? More troublingly, was it a wink and a nod to online hate groups? Artificial Intelligence(AI) Java Programming with ChatGPT: Learn using Generative .
