Tesla boss Elon Musk has denied having an affair with Nicole Shanahan, the wife of Google co-founder, Sergey Brin. Mr. Musk’s comments came after the Wall Street Journal reported that his friendship with Mr. Brin had ended over the alleged affair.
Replying to a link to the story posted on Twitter, Mr. Musk referred to the report as “total bs”.
Mr. Musk went on to say that he is still friends with Mr. Brin and that they were at a party together last night!. Citing people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal said that Mr. Musk was engaged in a brief affair late last year with Ms. Shanahan.
This prompted Mr. Brin to file for divorce earlier this year, ending the long friendship between the two high-profile technology billionaires, the paper also said. But Mr. Musk tweeted
I’ve only seen Nicole twice in three years, both times with many other people around. Nothing romantic. In a separate tweet, Mr. Musk said WSJ Wall Street Journal has run so many bs hit pieces on me and Tesla I’ve lost count.
Even though they have a prenuptial agreement, Mr. Brin and Ms. Shanahan are currently negotiating a divorce settlement, which could be as much as $1bn (£830m), the paper said. Ms. Shanahan is a California-based attorney and founder of legal technology company Clear AccessIP and the Bia-Echo Foundation, according to her LinkedIn profile.
The Bia-Echo Foundation is a philanthropic organization that promotes reproductive longevity & equality, criminal justice reform, and a healthy & livable planet.
Mr. Musk, who is also the boss of rocket firm SpaceX, is currently embroiled in a legal fight over his abandoned plan to buy Twitter for $44bn. Earlier this month, the social media platform sued him after he announced he was walking away from his proposed takeover of the firm.
Mr. Musk is the world’s richest person, with an estimated fortune of more than $240bn. While Mr. Brin is worth around $95bn, making him the eighth richest person in the world.
