Elon Musk was spotted with a woman who has since been revealed as his ‘girlfriend’ and the mother of three of his 12 children, with the pair having met through work

During President Donald Trump’s inauguration weekend, tech billionaire and DOGE lead Elon Musk was seen with a mysterious woman. This woman was Shivon Zilis, the mother of three of Musk’s 12 children.

The Canadian venture capitalist and Yale graduate was spotted networking with high-profile individuals like Jeff Bezos and his fiancee, Lauren Sanchez. Musk and Zilis’ relationship began when she started working at OpenAI, which Musk co-founded.

She later joined Neuralink, another Musk venture, as the director of special projects. In November 2021, the couple secretly welcomed twins Strider and Azure, weeks before Musk and then-partner Grimes had their second child via surrogate.

Grimes claimed she only found out about the twins a month after their birth, leading to public criticism of Zilis. “I have never even been allowed to see a photo of these children until this moment, despite the situation utterly ripping my family apart,” Grimes penned on X at the time; she later removed the post.

Meet Shivon Zilis, Elon Musk’s former co-worker turn baby mama (Image: LinkedIn)

Despite a lengthy custody battle between Grimes and Musk, Grimes said she eventually mended her relationship with Zilis. “Women are so often pitted against each other. Speaking with Shivon, it’s very evident she’s an amazing human and we both just want what’s best for our kids,” Grimes shared.

While Musk didn’t confirm their relationship status at the Trump event, the couple announced the arrival of their third child last year.

However, Zilis reassured the press that Grimes and Musk were not an item when she became pregnant via IVF.”He really wants intelligent people to have kids, so he encouraged me to do this. I can’t possibly think of genes I would prefer for my children,” she told Walter Isaacson, a biographer of Elon Musk.

As Zilis started attracting more media attention due to her association with Musk, she deleted her Instagram and LinkedIn but occasionally shared snaps of Musk and their children on X.

Zilis has always supported Musk and will likely continue to do so as he embarks on his new government role. “No one’s perfect, but I’ve never met anyone who goes through more personal pain to fight for an inspiring future for humanity – and has done so tirelessly for decades,” Zilis said of Musk on X.