Elon Musk’s longtime girlfriend and mother of four of his children dramatically announced their breakup on X.
Shivon Zilis’ lengthy post came after an account that follows Musk’s X account reported that the world’s richest man had unfollowed her — an act that appears to have been the final straw for his Neuralink executive girlfriend.
“It’s hard to go from loving to letting go in a week without warning, but that’s how it is sometimes 🤷🏻♀️,” she wrote, including a screenshot of her and Musk exchanging “I love you” just a week ago.
Zilis, 40, later gushed about having had the opportunity to date the mercurial billionaire, 55, who has at least 14 children with four women. Musk had one of his rumored children, Romulus St. Clair, with MAGA influencer Ashley St. Clair. Romulus was born in September 2024, while Zilis was pregnant with her and Musk’s fourth child.
“I’m glad I was able to show Elon what it feels like to be deeply understood, nurtured and loved peacefully with stability and gentleness,” Zilis wrote. “Given the tumultuous nature of his childhood, his often tortured soul, and the way he fights for humanity, I wanted him to feel the deepest, most stable form of love this world has to offer. My heart is filled with knowing that I must do this, and I hope it leaves a good, lasting effect.”
The nearly 300-word message concluded: “I’m hurting, but I care deeply about E and will always encourage his happiness. God willing, Elon, the world is lucky to have you.”
A previous article by Zilis last week suggested that the couple might be having problems. Just three days after Musk attended a White House state dinner without an appointment, Zilis cryptically wrote on X: “New day, new life.”
The SpaceX mogul attended the event alone, unlike other tech billionaires who attended with their spouses. Jeff Bezos arrived with his wife, Lauren Sanchez; Michael Dell with Susan Dell; and David Ellison with his wife, Sandra Lynn Ellison.
Musk claimed in a text to Zilis that he didn’t know he couldn’t take her with him.
“I didn’t realize this Xi dinner included a relative (the Beijing one didn’t) otherwise I would have invited you,” he wrote, according to a screenshot shared by Zilis.
In the screenshot, Zilis doesn’t seem upset by her snub.
“Aw, that means so much to me,” she replied. “Thank you ❤️.”
A representative for Musk did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Musk and Zilis, director of operations and special projects at Musk’s Neuralink, had an unorthodox relationship. Then a venture capitalist at Bloomberg Beta, she was introduced to Musk through connections in the AI industry and at OpenAI, where he was a co-founder and first board member. From there, she joined the board of directors of OpenAI and later worked for Musk at Tesla.
Musk and Zilis had twins together in 2021, while Musk was still dating Canadian musician Grimes, with whom he has three children. Grimes lashed out at Zilis after news of the twins became public in September 2023, but the two made peace after speaking directly.
“We have a lot of respect for each other and are excited to become friends and watch the kids grow up together,” Grimes wrote on X.
In Walter Isaacson’s 2023 biography of Musk, he wrote that Musk offered himself as a sperm donor to Zilis, who was happy to have Musk’s genes for her first pregnancy, even though they were not actively romantically involved.
“If the choice is between an anonymous sperm donor or doing it with the person you admire most in the world, for me it was a pretty easy decision,” she told Isaacson. “I couldn’t think of any genes I would prefer for my children.”
It is unclear when the relationship became romantic.
Zilis and Musk welcomed their third child in February 2024 and their fourth in February 2025, a month after she attended the inauguration festivities with him in Washington.
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