Top line
Billionaire Elon Musk and his longtime co-parent Shivon Zilis, one of Musk’s top executives at Neuralink, appear to have ended their relationship after welcoming four children in five years via in vitro fertilization.
Elon Musk and Shivon Zilis on February 1, 2026.
AFP via Getty Images
Key facts
Zilis, director of operations and special projects at Neuralink, posted on Friday morning, to say she had been “let go” of her relationship with Musk.
Zilis, responding to a tweet that Musk had unfollowed her on the platform, said: “I’m hurting, but I care deeply about E and will always encourage her happiness.”
The couple have had an unconventional relationship – Zilis was described by biographer Walter Isaacson as Musk’s intellectual companion rather than a conventional romantic partner – since at least 2021, when they quietly welcomed twins, Strider and Azure, via IVF.
They had a third child together, a daughter named Arcadia, in 2024 and a fourth, a son named Seldon Lycurgus, in 2025.
Zilis testified in federal court earlier this year and clarified the nature of their dynamic, explaining that they had a brief romantic relationship.unique“In 2016, they became close friends and colleagues and later proceeded to co-parent through IVF.
CRUCIAL QUOTE
“It’s hard to go from loving to letting go in a week without warning, but that’s how it is sometimes,” Zilis said Friday. “I will miss him very much.”
Key context
Zilis, a Yale graduate with a background in machine learning and artificial intelligence, worked at Tesla from 2017 to 2019 and joined OpenAI as an official advisor in 2016. While testifying in a trial between Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman earlier this year, she said their relationship began with “a one-off” at an off-site corporate event after starting at OpenAI. When she later decided to have children as a single mother, Musk “offered to donate” as a platonic sperm donor and their relationship later blossomed into a romantic partnership. She joined OpenAI’s board in 2020 and left in 2023, after Musk founded rival company xAI.
WHAT DID SHIVON ZILIS SAY ABOUT HIS BREAKUP WITH ELON MUSK?
“It’s hard to go from love to abandonment in a week without warning, but that’s how it is sometimes 🤷🏻♀️
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. Given the tumultuous nature of his youth, 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 full knowing that I have to do this, and I hope it leaves a positive and lasting effect.
We have always been his safe space. A place where we were all delighted to see him and which was always full of happiness and love, not war, unlike his otherwise militant existence (a necessary break from the battlefield where he could recharge his heart and soul before heading off again).
I loved being that balancing act of safety, calm, and love – and was excited to put a smile on his face when he was down. I will miss him very much.
I loved him more than life itself and he taught me 100 lifetimes of knowledge and made my cup of the meaning of life overflow, so there is a lot of loss, but luckily we created four beautiful little loves of my life ❤️❤️❤️❤️ I am so beyond grateful for our children and they make every day the best day of my life! I hope and pray that he and I can be good friends and co-parents.
I’m hurting, but I care deeply about E and will always encourage her happiness. God, Elon, the world is lucky to have you.
TANGENT
She posted her statement alongside a screenshot of a text between the two dated September 24. She told him: “It was really wonderful to see you at breakfast. I love you very much 💕.” He replied, “I love you too,” then sent a follow-up text about the high-profile White House state dinner for Chinese leader Xi Jinping that he was scheduled to attend later that day. “I didn’t realize that this Xi dinner included a relative (the Beijing one didn’t), otherwise I would have invited you,” he wrote. “Aw, this means so much to me. Thank you ❤️” Zilis replied.
LARGE NUMBER
14. This is the number of children Elon Musk has, with four different women.
FORBES VALUATION
Musk is the richest person in the world with a net worth estimated as of Friday at $972 billion. He briefly became the world’s first billionaire after SpaceX’s IPO this summer, and most of his fortune comes from SpaceX and Tesla. He is a co-founder of seven companies, including xAI, Tesla, SpaceX, The Boring Company, and brain implant company Neuralink.
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