Elon Musk had an affair with the wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, according to a new report. The extramarital affair allegedly caused the couple to get divorced and ended a long friendship between the two tech billionaires.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that Musk “engaged in a brief affair” with Brin’s wife in December, citing people familiar with the situation. The reported affair between Musk and Nicole Shanahan began during the Art Basel art show in Miami last December.
The alleged affair took place around the same time that Musk broke up with singer Claire Elise Boucher – best known as her stage name Grimes. Musk had two children with Grimes, including a daughter who was born via a surrogate in the same month as the alleged affair.
The month prior to the affair, Musk had twins with Shivon Zilis – a senior executive at Musk’s Neuralink company. In all, Musk has fathered 10 children with three women. One of his children who he had with Canadian author Justine Wilson died of sudden infant death syndrome at 10 weeks old in 2002.
At the time of the affair, Brin and Shanahan were separated but still living together. The couple allegedly were having issues revolving around COVID-19 and caring for their toddler daughter.
In January 2022, Brin reportedly filed for divorce weeks from his wife of nearly four years after discovering that Shanahan had an affair with Musk. Brin cited “irreconcilable differences” in the divorce filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court.
The WSJ report claimed that Brin instructed his financial advisers to liquidate all of his investments in anything related to Musk. In 2008, Brin provided Musk with a $500,000 investment in Tesla that helped the electric car manufacturer in its infancy. Musk gifted Brin a Tesla EV in 2015. Musk regularly stayed at Brin’s Silicon Valley home, according to reports.
Following the affair, Musk allegedly apologized to Brin and even dropped to his knees to beg his longtime friend for forgiveness, according to inside sources. Brin reportedly rebuffed the apology, and the two tech billionaires have not spoken since.
Musk is the richest person in the world with a net worth of more than $253 billion, according to Forbes. Meanwhile, Brin has a net worth of nearly $90 billion – making him the 10th-most-wealthiest person on the planet.
The divorce between Brin and Shanahan is ongoing. Shanahan is seeking $1 billion – which is more than she is entitled under the prenuptial agreement. However, Shanahan’s legal team argues that she signed the prenup under duress while pregnant with the couple’s daughter.
“I hope for Sergey and I to move forward with dignity, honesty, and harmony for the sake of our child. And we are both working towards that,” Shanahan told news website Puck earlier this month.