Tech magnate Elon Musk has welcomed his 12th child, his third with Neuralink Director Shivon Zilis. Musk emphasized that the baby's birth was not kept secret, as all his friends and family were aware. He refuted claims suggesting he had "secretly fathered" the baby, stating that the lack of a press release was not indicative of secrecy. Musk found the idea of issuing a press release about his 12th child to be "bizarre." The name and gender of the baby remain undisclosed.
In response to the allegations, Musk was quoted by Page Six saying, "As for 'secretly fathered,' that is also false. All our friends and family know. Failure to issue a press release, which would be bizarre, does not mean 'secret.'" This child is Musk's third with Zilis, who works at his brain implant firm, Neuralink. Their twins, Strider and Azure, were born in 2021.
Elon Musk's marital history includes his first marriage to Justine Wilson in 2000, with whom he has five children. The couple divorced in 2008. He then married actor Talulah Riley in 2010, and they divorced in 2016. In 2018, Musk started dating Canadian musician Grimes, and the couple has three children together. They separated in 2021.
The 52-year-old billionaire has often expressed concerns about declining birth rates, noting that many countries are already below the replacement rate and predicting that this global trend will continue. He stated, "Many countries are already well below replacement rate, and the trend is that almost all will be. This is simply a fact, not a 'debunked theory.'" He also explained that "2.1 kids is the replacement rate, and obviously the world as a whole will soon drop below that point."
In a July 2022 interview with Page Six, Musk advocated for having "big families" and expressed his desire to have many children, emphasizing his intent to spend time with them and be a good father. He also tweeted at that time that a "collapsing birth rate was the biggest danger civilization faced."
Apart from his three children with Zilis, Musk has twins Griffin and Vivian, and triplets Kai, Saxon, and Damian with his first wife, Justine Wilson. Tragically, their eldest child, Nevada, died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) at just 10 weeks old.
