Did Elon Musk Break Up With Shivon Zillis? Neuralink Executive’s ‘Hard To Let Go’ Post Sparks Rumours

Last Updated:October 02, 2026, 9:00 PM IST

Elon Musk and Shivon Zilis have four children – twins Strider and Azure born via IVF, Arcadia, and son Seldon Lycurgus.

Shivon Zilis, Mother Of 4 Of Elon Musk’s Children, Says She Was “Let Go” From His Life

Elon Musk and Shivon Zilis, the Neuralink executive who shares four children with the billionaire, appear to have ended their relationship, after Zilis publicly said she had been “let go” from Musk’s life. Her post on X came amid speculation after Musk appeared to unfollow her on the platform.

Zilis, who has more than 620,000 followers on X, wrote that the separation had come suddenly and without warning. She also said she hoped the two could remain friends and co-parents while expressing gratitude for their four children.

‘It’s hard to go from in love to let go’

“It’s hard to go from in love to let go in a week with no warning, but that’s just how it is sometimes,” Zilis wrote on X on Friday. She said she was grateful that she had been able to show Musk what it felt like to be “deeply understood, nurtured, and peacefully loved with stability and gentleness”.

Zilis described their home and family as a place of happiness and love, saying she had wanted Musk to have a stable space away from the difficulties of his wider life. “I loved being that counterbalancing place of safety, sense of calm, and love – and delighted in bringing a smile back to his face when he was down,” she wrote.

Zilis said she would miss Musk and had “loved him more than life itself”. She added that he had taught her “100 lifetimes of knowledge”. However, she said the biggest source of gratitude was their children. “We created four beautiful little loves of my life,” she wrote, adding that she hoped she and Musk could be “great friends and coparents”.

Musk appears to unfollow Zilis

Zilis’ post followed speculation on X after the account Big Tech Alert flagged that Musk had unfollowed her. Musk follows around 1,400 accounts, while Zilis has more than 620,000 followers. She continues to be followed by prominent figures from the AI world, including former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, Andrej Karpathy and Fei-Fei Li, as well as Musk’s brother Kimbal.

On September 28, Zilis had also posted a cryptic message saying, “New day, new life.” The post received more than 180,000 views. She did not mention Musk, and it is unclear whether the message was connected to their relationship. Musk had not publicly addressed Zilis’ latest post at the time of writing.

Four children together

Zilis and Musk have four children. Twins Strider and Azure were born in November 2021 through IVF. Their births became public in 2022 after court documents surfaced. A third child, Arcadia, was reported in 2024. In February 2025, Zilis announced the birth of a fourth child, a son named Seldon Lycurgus. Musk responded to the announcement with a heart emoji.

The family also fits with Musk’s long-running concerns about falling birth rates. He has linked the issue to his AI ambitions and said xAI would programme its AI in a way that increases birth rates. Musk is believed to have at least 14 children in total.

Relationship came under spotlight during trial

Zilis and Musk’s relationship was examined during the Musk v. Altman trial. Zilis, an early adviser to OpenAI who served on its board from 2020 until early 2023, testified in May about how their relationship developed from friendship and professional ties. NBC News reported that she said the two lived together while travelling and when Musk was in Austin. Musk also referred to her as his “partner” during his testimony.

Zilis had initially been a co-plaintiff in the case but withdrew before the trial began. The jury ultimately sided with OpenAI in May, finding that Musk had waited too long to sue.

Her career remains tied to Musk’s companies

Zilis worked as a project director at Tesla from 2017 to 2019 and has held senior operations and special projects roles at Neuralink. She has also held a role at xAI, according to her trial testimony. Outside Musk’s companies, she joined the board of defence AI firm Shield AI in 2023. It is not yet known whether her professional roles will change following her comments about her personal relationship with Musk. For now, Zilis has publicly expressed gratitude for their relationship and children, while saying she hopes they can remain friends and co-parents. Musk has not publicly responded to her post.

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Did Shivon Zilis and Elon Musk break up?

Yes, Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis indicated on X that she and Elon Musk ended their relationship after a sudden split, following speculation sparked when Musk appeared to unfollow her on the platform.

How many children do Elon Musk and Shivon Zilis share?

Elon Musk and Shivon Zilis share four children together, including twins born in 2021, a third child reported in 2024, and a fourth son born in February 2025.

What did Shivon Zilis say in her social media post about Elon Musk?

Shivon Zilis posted that it was hard to go from being in love to being let go in a week without warning, while expressing gratitude for their children and hoping they can remain friends and co-parents.

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Shuddhantha PatraSenior Sub-Editor

Shuddhanta Patra is an Indian journalist with about nine years of experience in covering national politics, geopolitics, defence, diplomacy and international affairs. Her reporting focuses on South As…Read More

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