Tech

Elon Musk shares photo of him and Sergey Brin at a party, calling report of alleged affair with Google co-founder's wife 'total BS'

Elon Musk making a grimace and pointing a finger.
Elon Musk. Frederic Brown/Getty Images
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Elon Musk shared a photo of him with Google co-founder Sergey Brin late Sunday after the The Wall Street Journal reported Musk had an alleged affair with Brin's wife briefly last year, which the Tesla CEO has staunchly denied.

Musk sent the photo to the New York Post and said he "took this pic only two hours ago," insisting that he had nothing to do with the divorce of Brin and his wife, Nicole Shanahan.

He also tweeted late Sunday night, calling the Journal's report "total bs."

"Sergey and I are friends and were at a party together last night!" he said on Twitter. "I've only seen Nicole twice in three years, both times with many other people around. Nothing romantic."

The Wall Street Journal cited unnamed sources that alleged Musk had an affair with Shanahan at the Art Basel art show in Miami in December. One person familiar with the matter told the publication that Brin and Shanahan were separated but living together at the time.

Musk got down on one knee and begged for Brin's forgiveness when the latter discovered his friend's alleged affair with his wife, one source told the WSJ. Brin reportedly "acknowledged the apology" but the two do not speak regularly, the person said.

According to court documents that the Journal viewed, Brin filed for divorce in January, citing "irreconcilable differences."

The report follows news last month that Musk quietly had twins with one of his top executives at Neuralink in November 2021. That December, the same month of the alleged affair, Musk welcomed a daughter who was born via surrogate with ex-girlfriend Grimes.

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Katie is a tech and crypto reporter based in Austin, Texas. She joined Insider in 2018 and focuses heavily on NFTs, blockchain technology, major crypto players, and the booming Web3 space. She has also covered the many happenings in the tech industry, from content moderation and data privacy to antitrust issues and regulation.  Katie graduated from Texas A&M University in 2017 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. She began her time at Insider in the company's San Francisco office before moving home to Texas in 2021. You can find her paddleboarding most Saturdays. Reach her at kcanales@jkmperu.com, or follow her on Twitter @KatieCanales1.