Elon Musk's 'Lorde Edge' Twitter Name Change Sparks Questions Over Meaning

Elon Musk has changed his Twitter name to "Lorde Edge," leaving social media users to speculate over what it might mean.

On the surface, the name appears to be a reference to the word "edgelord," an internet slang term referring to someone who frequently espouses views that are considered controversial or purposefully offensive.

Musk is certainly no stranger to controversy. The Tesla and SpaceX boss has published a number of tweets over the years that have caused a stir.

In March last year, he wrote that "the coronavirus panic is dumb" and also stated that "kids are essentially immune" to the virus.

Some months later he weighed in on the gender identity discourse by stating: "Pronouns suck."

And in the past few days the multi-billionaire has offered to counter assertions that he does not pay a fair share of income tax by offering to sell off 10 percent of his Tesla stock—but only after letting a Twitter poll decide it first.

When Portland senator Ron Wyden targeted Musk by calling for a billionaires income tax over the weekend, Musk responded with a lewd remark about Wyden's Twitter profile picture.

With all this in mind the 'edgelord' interpretation of Musk's new Twitter identity may appear clear-cut. But some users have wondered if there may be other ways of reading into the name.

Musk is known to be an influential figure in the world of cryptocurrency and has often praised the popular dog-themed meme token Dogecoin, which he is known to have invested in.

Billy Markus, one of Dogecoin's co-founders, Tweeted on Sunday night that "Lorde Edge is an anagram for Elder Doge."

Markus also said it is unclear whether this was intentional or not. It would chime well with Musk's Saturday Night Live sketch in May this year, which was titled "The Dogefather" in reference to the cryptocurrency token.

At the same time, another user said the name could also be re-written as "deer lodge" or "old degree."

It remains to be seen when Musk will abide by the decision of his Twitter poll, in which users voted 57.9 percent in favor of him selling 10 percent of his Twitter stock in order to pay taxes.

According to CNBC, the multi-billionaire may have to sell a significant amount of his Tesla stock in order to foot a $15bn tax bill on his stock options.

Musk has claimed he does not take a salary or bonus and that his wealth is tied up in Tesla stock.