‘Total BS’: Elon Musk denies affair with Google co-founder Sergey Brin’s wife
- Elon Musk said he and Sergey Brin remain friends, denying a report that he had an affair with Brin’s wife Nicole Shanahan
- The Wall Street Journal said the alleged affair prompted Brin to file for divorce from Shanahan earlier this year
Elon Musk has fiercely denied having an affair with the wife of his long-time friend, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, refuting a Wall Street Journal report alleging a liaison that had ripped asunder not only Brin’s marriage but also the friendship between the two men.
“This is total BS,” the Tesla boss tweeted Sunday night of the alleged affair, which is said to have occurred while Brin and now-estranged wife Nicole Shanahan were separated but still living together.
“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.”
The Journal had reported that the friendship between Musk and Brin had tanked after an apparent dalliance between Shanahan and the Tesla founder. This reportedly led to the couple’s divorce.
Brin also instructed his advisers to sell personal investments in Musk’s companies after he came to know about the alleged affair.
Musk and Brin have been close friends for years, according to reports. Brin, the world’s eighth-richest human, even helped Musk financially during the 2008 economic crisis.
But late last year, while Brin and Shanahan were on a break though under the same roof, the latter apparently got cosy with the world’s richest man, according to the Journal.
The Journal reported that the affair started at the Art Basel art show in Miami in December 2021.
The alleged affair is the latest in a string of revelations about Musk’s personal life.
Musk and his own girlfriend, the singer Grimes, had broken up in September, though they also welcomed a second child via surrogate in December 2021.
Also last year, yet another Musk paramour, Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis, gave birth to twins.
Brin filed for divorce from Shanahan earlier this year for “irreconcilable differences” weeks after learning of the fling, the Journal reported.
Brin and Shanahan have been married four years and have a toddler daughter. They have officially been separated since December 15, 2021. They are currently negotiating a settlement, with Shanahan seeking more than US$1 billion, the Journal said, even though there’s a prenuptial agreement.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
