Elon Musk's growing brood: 11 children & counting, tech tycoon welcomes 3rd child with Neuralink partner

Elon Musk reportedly welcomed his eleventh child earlier this year with Shivon Zilis, who is the director of operations and special projects at Neuralink. This child is Musk's third with Zilis, alongside twins born in 2021. Musk also has five children with his first wife, Justine Musk, and three children with Canadian musician Grimes.

According to the tech tycoon, this baby was anything but a ‘secret’. In conversation with Page Six, he also added that issuing a press release for the same would have been bizarre.??

“As for ‘secretly fathered,’ that is also false,” he says. “All our friends and family know. Failure to issue a press release, which would be bizarre, does not mean ‘secret.'”

The personal relationship between Musk and Zilis became more widely known in 2022 when they filed a petition to change their twins' names. The new names included Musk's last name and Zilis' last name as part of their middle names, highlighting their connection.

Elon Musk and Shivon Zilis’ relationship

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Walter Isaacson, Elon Musk's biographer, provided insights into Musk's relationship with Shivon Zilis in September 2023. He shared a photo of Musk and Zilis with their twins, giving a glimpse into their family dynamics. Isaacson described a scene at Zilis' residence in Austin where Musk engaged in a discussion about the potential risks of artificial intelligence while their twins played nearby.

Shivon Zilis has played a significant role in Elon Musk's professional sphere for several years. She became part of Neuralink in 2017, a company co-founded by Musk that concentrates on advancing implantable brain-computer interfaces. Prior to her tenure at Neuralink, Zilis contributed to OpenAI, another initiative co-founded by Musk with the goal of ensuring that artificial intelligence benefits humanity.

Also Read:?A Look At The $200 Billion Net Worth Of The World's Richest Person Elon Musk

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Born in Markham, Ontario, Shivon Zilis attended Yale University, where she was a goalie for the women's ice hockey team. She graduated with a degree in economics and philosophy. Starting her career at IBM, she later transitioned to Bloomberg Beta before joining OpenAI and eventually Neuralink.

Elon Musk is concerned about underpopulation and therefore believes that people with high IQ should have more babies

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Elon Musk's most recent child was initially disclosed in a Bloomberg article published on a Friday, titled "Elon Wants You to Have More Babies." The article delved into Musk's interest in birth rates and related topics.

“Many countries are already well below replacement rate, and the trend is that almost all will be. This is simply a fact, not a ‘debunked theory,'” Musk had told Page Six.

He added that “2.1 kids is replacement rate, and obviously the world as a whole will soon drop below that point.”

In July 2022, Musk expressed his support for large families, stating, "Bravo to big families," and emphasizing his desire to have "as many [kids] as I am able to spend time with and be a good father."

During the same year, he tweeted about concerns over declining birth rates, stating, "A collapsing birth rate is the biggest danger civilization faces, by far."

Elon Musk did express concerns about global underpopulation and advocated for individuals with high IQs to have more children, believing it is critical for the future of civilization.

Also Read:?When & How Did World's Richest Person Elon Musk Earn His First $1 Million?

Elon Musk’s legal battle with former partner Grimes

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The Tesla mogul welcomed twins named Strider and Azure with Shivon Zilis in November 2021, just a month before his child Exa Dark Sider?l (also known as Y) was born via surrogate with alt-pop singer Grimes.

The existence of Exa came to public attention in a Vanity Fair article when the child was heard crying during Grimes' interview, labeling the infant as "Her Secret New Baby With Elon Musk."

Grimes, aged 36, is currently involved in a legal dispute with Elon Musk over parental rights regarding their three children.

Despite the ongoing custody battle, the founder of SpaceX was seen with his 4-year-old son, X (born X ? A-12), at various public events recently. These include attending the Super Bowl in Las Vegas in February, visiting the Tesla plant in Germany in March, and most recently, appearing at the Cannes Lions festival in France earlier this month.

Elon Musk also shares twins named Griffin and Vivian, as well as triplets named Kai, Saxon, and Damian, with his ex-wife Justine Musk. Tragically, the couple's eldest child, Nevada, passed away at 10 weeks due to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

Details of Elon Musk's 12 kids

1. Nevada Alexander Musk

Elon Musk's firstborn son, Nevada Alexander Musk, was born in 2002. Sadly, Nevada passed away from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) at just 10 weeks old.?“Nevada went down for a nap, placed on his back as always, and stopped breathing. By the time the paramedics resuscitated him, he had been deprived of oxygen for so long that he was brain dead. He spent three days on life support in a hospital in Orange County before we made the decision to take him off it. I held him in my arms when he died," ustine Wilson, wrote about the heartbreaking experience in an essay for Marie Claire in 2010.

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Musk has never spoken about the loss of his son in public. However, in an email expressing his sympathy to a father who lost his 18-year-old son in a Tesla crash in 2018, he wrote, “There is nothing worse than losing a child. My firstborn son died in my arms. I felt his heartbeat.”

2. Griffin Musk

Following the tragic loss of their first child, Musk and his then-wife Justine Wilson turned to IVF to expand their family. As a result, Griffin and his twin sister Vivian were born in April 2004. The twins are now 20 years old.

3. Vivian Jenna Wilson

In April 2004, Vivian Jenna Wilson was born alongside her twin brother, Griffin. At the age of 18 in 2022, she filed a petition to legally change her name and gender. Vivian sought official recognition of her gender as female and requested a new birth certificate reflecting these changes. Additionally, she aimed to adopt her mother's last name, transitioning away from her father's surname.

4. Kai Musk
5. Saxon Musk
6. Damian Musk

Elon Musk's then-wife, Canadian author Justine Wilson, gave birth to triplet sons Kai, Saxon, and Damian Musk in January 2006. The triplets celebrated their 18th birthday this year. While both Wilson and Elon Musk have generally avoided discussing the triplets extensively in public, Wilson did confirm in a 2017 TedTalk that the trio was conceived via IVF.

Musk and Justine Wilson divorced in 2008, two years after their triplet sons Kai, Saxon, and Damian were born on January 1, 2006. In a 2010 op-ed for Business Insider, Musk disclosed that he paid Wilson $20,000 per month in child support, along with covering her living expenses and the salaries of the children's nannies.

He elaborated, "Custody of our five children is split evenly. Almost all of my non-work waking hours are spent with my children, and they are the love of my life."

7. X ? A-Xii?

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Elon Musk and singer Grimes welcomed their first child together on May 4, 2020. Initially named X ? A-12, the child's name was later legally changed to X ? A-Xii. Grimes announced her pregnancy in January 2020 with a photo showing her baby bump..

Grimes explained the name on X? writing,

“?X, the unknown variable ??

??, my elven spelling of Ai (love &/or Artificial intelligence)

?A-12 = precursor to SR-17 (our favorite aircraft). No weapons, no defenses, just speed. Great in battle, but non-violent ?

+

(A=Archangel, my favorite song)

(??? metal rat).”

8. Azure?
9. Strider?

Elon Musk and Shivon Zilis, Neuralink's director of operations and special projects, welcomed twins in November 2021. Around the same time, Elon Musk and Grimes also welcomed a daughter via surrogate.

10. Exa Dark Sider?l Musk

Just a month after welcoming a set of twins with Shivon Zilis, Elon Musk and Grimes welcomed a daughter named Exa Dark Sider?l Musk in December 2021, born via surrogate. The parents affectionately nicknamed the child "Y" in reference to her brother, who is known by the moniker "X.

11. Techno Mechanicus (aka Tau)

The birth of Elon Musk's third child with Grimes, named Techno, was first disclosed in Walter Isaacson's biography in 2023. Following widespread dissemination of the news in September 2023, Grimes herself confirmed it on social media platform X. "I wish I could show u how cute little Techno is but my priority rn is keeping my babies out of the public eye," she shared.

Musk’s inappropriate behaviour at the workplace

However, Musk has also faced allegations of inappropriate behavior in the workplace. A recent report from the Wall Street Journal detailed claims that Musk had made inappropriate requests to a former SpaceX employee regarding having children, and had engaged in improper interactions with other employees, including an intern and a flight attendant. These controversies have stirred public debate and scrutiny.