Elon Musk Nicole Shanahan Affair: Space X Founder Quashes Rumours

Elon Musk has denied a media report that alleged he had an affair with the wife of Google co-founder and billionaire Sergey Brin. The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that Musk had a brief affair with Nicole Shanahan, Brin's wife, in December, prompting Shanahan and Brin to divorce in January. The publication added that Musk and Brin were close friends until the affair.

"This is total bs. Sergey and I are friends and were at a party together last night! I've only seen Nicole twice in three years, both times with many other people around. Nothing romantic," Musk tweeted, in reply to the report.

Elon Musk Nicole Shanahan affair

In another tweet, he added, "the character assassination attacks have reached a new level this year, but the articles are all nothing-burgers."

"I work crazy hours, so there just isn't much time for shenanigans," he said.

Brin had filed for divorce in January citing "irreconcilable differences," and claimed he and Shanahan had been separated since December 15, 2021. Shanahan is an attorney based in California. She is also the founder and president of the Bia-Echo Foundation.

The WSJ report said: "The liaison with Musk took place in early December 2021, at the Art Basel event in Miami. Art Basel is a multiday, annual festival that draws wealthy attendees from around the world. At a party Musk dropped to one knee in front of Brin and apologised profusely for the transgression, begging for forgiveness, according to people with knowledge of the incident."

Brin was reportedly among the first people to be given a Tesla car when production got off the ground, and the Google co-founder gave Musk $500,000 in 2008 to keep Tesla afloat during the global recession sparked by the US subprime mortgage crisis.

The news of the alleged affair came several months after Musk had broken up with his girlfriend, singer Grimes, with whom he shares two children. Not only this, a few weeks ago, several reports surfaced online that he had secretly fathered twins in November 2021 with Shivon Zilis, an employee at Musk's company Neuralink.

Musk, who is also the boss of rocket firm SpaceX, is currently embroiled in a legal fight over his abandoned plan to buy Twitter for $44bn.

Earlier this month, the social media platform sued him after he announced he was walking away from his proposed takeover of the firm.

Suggested Reading: Who Is Nicole Shanahan? Author-Attorney Married To Google Co-Founder Going For Divorce