Elon Musk ‘had affair with Sergey Brin’s wife Nicole Shanahan before billionaire Google co-founder filed for divorce’
ELON Musk had an affair last year with the wife of the billionaire co-founder of Google Sergey Brin, a report has claimed.
The alleged tryst prompted Brin, 48, to file for divorce earlier this year - and end a long friendship between the tech billionaires, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Musk, 51, is the richest person in the world with an estimated fortune of $240 billion, while Brin is ranked eighth world-wide with a $95 billion fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Both were long time friends, with Musk saying he regularly crashed at Brin’s Silicon Valley mansion.
Tensions between the two tech titans have been growing over recent months, according to the Journal's sources.
Brin filed for divorce from Nicole Shanahan in January this year, citing “irreconcilable differences,” court records show.
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The divorce filing was reportedly made just weeks after Brin learned of the brief affair - which Musk has denied.
Branding the allegations "total bs", the business magnate tweeted: "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."
In a bid to back up his denial, Musk added: "Haven’t even had sex in ages (sigh)."
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The alleged affair with Musk is said to have taken place in early December 2021, at the Art Basel event in Miami.
The event takes place over a number of days and attracts wealthy attendees from all over the world.
Musk is said to have dropped to one knee in front of Brin at a party earlier this year and begged for forgiveness.
Brin is said to have acknowledged the apology but still isn’t speaking regularly with Musk.
After filing for divorce, Brin is said to have ordered his financial advisers to sell his personal investments in Musk’s companies.
It's unclear how big those investments are or whether there have been any sales yet.
At the time of the alleged liaison in early December Brin and his wife are said to have separated but still lived together, according to a pal of Ms Shanahan.
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In the divorce filing, Brin cited December 15, 2021, as the date of the couple’s separation.
In an interview earlier this month with the news website Puck, Shanahan said of the divorce: “I hope for Sergey and I to move forward with dignity, honesty and harmony for the sake of our child. And we are both working towards that.”
Brin and Shanahan, who have been married for nearly four years, are said to have met at a yoga retreat called Wanderlust around seven year ago.
Brin had been previously married to Anne Wojcicki, co-founder of genetics company 23andMe Inc., and Shanahan to a finance executive.
Brin and Shanahan’s marriage was already facing problems in the fall of 2021 - partly due to the Covid pandemic shutdowns and the care of their three-year-old daughter, the Journal reports.
The alleged affair is said to have happened after Musk broke up with on-off girlfriend, the singer Grimes, in September.
DIVORCE MEDIATION
Grimes, whose real name is Claire Boucher, and Musk had a second child, a daughter, via surrogate in December 2021.
Musk’s twins with Shivon Zilis, the Neuralink executive, were born last fall.
Brin and Shanahan are now said to be involved in divorce mediation, with Shanahan thought to be seeking more than $1bn.
The two sides have not reached an agreement, it's claimed.
Brin’s side is thought to be arguing that Shanahan is asking for more money than her prenuptial agreement entitles her to.
Shanahan’s side reportedly believe her request is only a fraction of Brin’s $95bn fortune and that she signed the prenuptial agreement under duress.
Brin co-founded Google, which is now part of Alphabet Inc, with Larry Page in 1998.
Both Brin and Page stepped down from management of Alphabet in 2019 although both remain on the board.
PRIVATE TROUBLES
Musk is the chief executive and chief engineer of SpaceX, a company he founded in 2002.
He is also the chief executive of Tesla.
Musk has again been in the spotlight after a string of personal and business issues.
He has faced manufacturing problems with Tesla and a court battle over his wish to back out from a $44bn bid for the social media site Twitter.
Musk’s private life has also come under scrutiny over the previous few months.
He has been accused of exposing himself to a flight attendant at his aerospace company SpaceX – although he has denied the allegations.
Claims have also been made he had twins late last year with a female executive at Neuralink, a company he co-founded.
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A lawyer for Brin declined to comment when approached by the WSJ.
Musk did not respond when contacted and a spokesperson for Shanahan did not respond either when approached by the paper.
