Tesla CEO Elon Musk has confirmed that he welcomed his third child with Neuralink director Shivon Zilis earlier this year — making the tech mogul a father to at least 12 children.
Half of the $210-billion-man’s kids were born in the past five years.
His children include his three with Zillis, three with Canadian popstar Grimes and five with his ex-wife Justine Wilson.
Musk, 52, a vocal “pronatalist” who has long claimed that the population is in decline and previously joked that he’s, “Doing my best to help the underpopulation crisis.”
Although world fertility rates are declining, the UN projects that the global population will hit 10 billion by the end of the century.
News of Musk’s family’s rapid growth comes also as the tech mogul has been accused by several female subordinates of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior at his space exploration company, SpaceX.
He denies all wrongdoing.
Here’s everything to know about the very modern family started by the world’s second wealthiest man.
Justine Wilson – Mother of to Griffin, Vivian, Kai, Saxon, Damian and Nevada
Musk and his first wife, Justine Wilson, had twins Griffin and Vivian in 2004 after the couple had a son named Nevada in 2002 who died at just 10 weeks old from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
While Musk has rarely mentioned his loss, he expressed his sympathy in an email chain with the father of an 18-year-old boy who died in a fiery Tesla crash in 2018.
“There is nothing worse than losing a child,” Musk wrote, according to Bloomberg.
“My firstborn son died in my arms. I felt his heartbeat.”
Musk’s child Vivian, came out as transgender in 2022 and legally changed her name from Xavier Musk, including taking her mother’s last name.
In court, Vivian said she “no longer lives with or wishes to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form.”
Five years after their twins were born, the couple had triplet boys, Kai, Saxon and Damian, in 2006 using in vitro fertilization (IVF).
Musk and Wilson divorced in 2008.
Following his divorce from Wilson, Musk married actor Talulah Riley in 2010.
The pair divorced in 2012, remarried in 2013 and divorced for a final time in 2016.
The actor and tech guru never had children together.
Grimes – Mother to X Æ A-Xii, Exa Dark Sideræl and Techno
Musk and the “Oblivion” singer’s first son, X Æ A-Xii, was born in May 2020.
In December 2021, the couple quietly welcomed their daughter, Exa Dark Sideræl via surrogate.
Their son, originally named X Æ A-12, had to have his name legally changed to follow California laws on birth certificates, though his parents simply refer to him as “X.”
His name is pronounced “X Ash A Twelve,” Musk explained on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast just after his birth, giving props to Grimes for coming up with the majority of the name.
“My partner’s the one that mostly came up with the name,” he said.
“It’s just X, the letter X, and then the ‘Æ’ is like pronounced, ‘Ash,’ and then, ‘A-12’ is my contribution.”
The couple split in September 2021 before getting back together around the time of the birth of their daughter, Exa Dark Sideræl, whose name is pronounced “Sigh-deer-ee-el,” but has been given the nickname “Y.”
This past September it was confirmed that the pair had a third child, a boy named Techno Mechanicus, whom they nicknamed “Tau.”
Grimes, whose real name is Claire Elise Boucher, spoke of their third child in an X post, writing, in part, “I wish I could show u how cute little Techno is but my priority rn is keeping my babies out of the public eye.”
“Plz respect that at this time,” she added.
In September 2023, Grimes filed a court petition to establish parental rights of their three children following her split with Musk. .
Shivon Zilis – Mother to Strider, Azure and unnamed newborn
In November 2021 Musk and Shivon Zilis welcomed twins Strider and Azure.
Musk and Zilis, who works for the mogul at his brain chip company Neuralink, reportedly had the twins through in-vitro fertilization.
The couple petitioned a Texas court to allow the children to “have their father’s last name and contain their mother’s last name as part of their middle name,” Business Insider reported in 2022.
The pair welcomed their third child — whose name was not released — sometime earlier this year, it was revealed on Saturday.
While the public only just learned of the baby’s birth, Musk told Page Six on Sunday that the child was no secret to their friends and family.
“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.’”
Musk and Zilis have not shared the sex of the baby.
