Elon Musk is promoting a new perfume, as the world’s richest man continues a track record of turning what ostensibly start out as jokes into sought-after products.

Musk announced the scent - called “Burnt Hair” and described as “the essence of repugnant desire” - in a tweet Tuesday, before changing his Twitter biography to “Perfume Salesman”.

A separate product page posted by Boring Co., Musk’s tunneling company, listed the fragrance at USD 100 a pop, and Musk later tweeted that 10 000 bottles had been sold.

The billionaire had said in an earlier post in September that Boring Co. would launch a scent for men that will help them “stand out in a crowd”.

He wrote Tuesday that getting into the fragrance business was inevitable given his last name, tweeting in jest: “Why did I even fight it for so long!?”