Elon Musk and Shivon Zilis have ended their relationship after four years together and welcoming four children, with Zilis publicly confirming the breakup in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter).
Zilis wrote on Friday, October 2: “It’s hard to go from in love to let go in a week with no warning.” She added that she was hurt but still cared deeply about Musk and hoped they could remain friends and co-parents.
Zilis, a technology executive who serves as director of operations and special projects at Neuralink, has four children with Musk. Their twins, Strider and Azure, were born in 2021 through in vitro fertilisation (IVF), followed by daughter Arcadia in 2024 and son Seldon in 2025.
In her breakup statement, Zilis expressed gratitude for their children and said she hoped Musk and she could maintain a positive relationship as co-parents. She also described the family as a source of happiness and stability.
Zilis also attached a screenshot of a text exchange with Musk from September 24, just days before announcing their split. In the messages, she told Musk that it was “really wonderful” to see him for breakfast and said she loved him.
Musk responded that he loved her too and mentioned a White House state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Zilis previously worked at IBM and served on OpenAI’s board before joining Neuralink. The split comes months after Musk and Zilis were photographed together at a wedding at Mar-a-Lago in February 2026.
