Clearing the air? Elon Musk is speaking out after being accused of having a “brief affair” with Nicole Shanahan, the estranged wife of Google cofounder Sergey Brin.
The 51-year-old South Africa native addressed a report published by the Wall Street Journal on Sunday, July 24, which claimed that he and Shanahan were linked in the fall of 2021. Brin, 48, exchanged vows with Shanahan in November 2018 and the duo called it quits three years later.
Musk shut down the “character assassination” in a series of tweets on Sunday. “This is total bs. Sergey and I are friends and were at a party together last night!” he claimed. “I’ve only seen Nicole twice in three years, both times with many other people around. Nothing romantic.”
The SpaceX CEO alleged in another post, “Haven’t even had sex in ages (sigh),” joking that he doesn’t have “much time for shenanigans” due to his “crazy” work hours.
“None of the key people involved in these alleged wrongdoings were even interviewed!” Musk continued, slamming the publication for failing to meet a “high standard” of reporting. “WSJ should be running stories that actually matter to their readers and have solid factual basis, not third-party random hearsay.”
The outlet’s report claims Musk’s alleged affair with Shanahan ended his long friendship with Brin. According to the WSJ, Brin and Shanahan were separated — but still living together — during her rumored fling with Musk, which prompted the computer scientist to file for divorce. (Us Weekly has reached out to Brin’s rep for comment.)
Throughout their friendship, the Boring Company founder “regularly crashed” on Brin’s couch in Silicon Valley, California, per the report.
Musk’s personal life has made headlines several times over the years. The Tesla CEO shares twins Vivian and Griffin, 18, and triplets Kai, Saxon and Damian, 16, with ex-wife Justine Wilson and welcomed son X AE A-XII with Grimes in May 2020. News broke in March that Musk and the musician, 34, quietly welcomed daughter Exa Dark Sideræl in December 2021 via surrogate.
Earlier this month, Insider reported that Musk and Shivon Zilis, an executive at his Neuralink company, became the parents of twins in November 2021. Court docs filed in April petitioned to give the kids “their father’s last name and contain their mother’s last name as part of their middle name.” The request was granted one month later.
Musk seemingly weighed in on the news via Twitter on July 7, teasing, “Doing my best to help the underpopulation crisis. A collapsing birth rate is the biggest danger civilization faces by far.”
Scroll down for more details on the alleged drama between Brin, Musk and Shanahan:
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Who Is Sergey Brin?
Brin cofounded Google with Larry Page in 1998 after meeting as students at Stanford University. He previously studied math and computer science at University of Maryland. The Russian immigrant stepped down as president of Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., in December 2019 and has an estimated net worth of $99 billion.
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Who Is Nicole Shanahan?
Shanahan studied economics, Asian studies and Mandarin Chinese at the University of Puget Sound in Washington State before earning her law degree from Santa Clara University. She started her Bia-Echo foundation in 2019, which focuses on reproductive longevity, criminal justice reform and other key social issues.
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When Did Brin and Shanahan Split?
The pair were married for three years before Brin filed for divorce in January, reportedly citing “irreconcilable differences.” They separated one month prior.
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Do They Have Kids?
The estranged couple welcomed a daughter in 2018. Brin also shares two children with ex-wife Anne Wojcicki, to whom he was married from 2007 to 2015.
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Is Musk Still Friends With Brin?
Musk declared via Twitter that he and the entrepreneur are still close, noting that they recently attended a party together. According to WSJ, Brin gave nearly $500,000 in funding to Tesla in 2008 when the company was struggling.
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Has Shanahan Commented?
“Make no mistake, any suggestion that Nicole had an affair with Elon Musk is not only an outright lie but also defamatory,” the philanthropist’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, told the Daily Mail days after the rumored affair made headlines.
