Shivon Zilis, the longtime partner of Elon Musk and mother of four of his children, says the billionaire ended their relationship suddenly and without warning. “It’s hard to go from in love to let go in a week,” the Neuralink executive wrote.
Zilis shared her emotional account in an extended post on X on Friday, describing herself as “hurting.” Her message came only hours after social media users noticed that Musk had unfollowed her on the platform he owns.
“I’ve loved him more than life itself,” Zilis, 40, wrote. She said Musk had given her “100 lifetimes of knowledge” and filled her life with meaning, making the breakup especially painful. Still, she added, the two had created “four beautiful little loves of my life.”
Zilis said she remains profoundly grateful for their children, who she described as making every day the best of her life. She also expressed hope that she and Musk could eventually maintain a strong friendship and successfully co-parent.
She said she was glad to have shown Musk what it felt like to be deeply understood, cared for and loved in a calm, stable and gentle relationship.
“I loved being that counterbalancing place of safety, sense of calm, and love,” Zilis continued, adding that she took joy in helping him smile when he was struggling. “I will miss him dearly.”
Zilis, who is the mother of four of Musk’s 14 children, appeared to suggest that the split caught her off guard. Alongside her statement, she posted a screenshot of affectionate text messages exchanged by the pair just one week earlier.
Shivon Zilis, Elon Musk’s longtime partner and the mother of four of his children, said Friday that the billionaire ended their relationship “with no warning.” The pair are pictured together in February.
“I’m hurting, but care deeply about E and will always be cheering for his happiness,” Zilis wrote. “God speed, Elon. The world is lucky to have you.”
Musk, 55, has not publicly addressed the reported breakup.
A possible indication that tensions had emerged came on September 28, when Zilis posted the cryptic message: “New day, new life.”
Later on Friday, Big Tech Alert, an account that monitors the social media activity of prominent technology figures, reported that Musk had unfollowed Zilis.
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The Tesla founder follows only about 1,400 accounts on X, making the change particularly noticeable to online observers.
The reported split follows Zilis’s appearance as a witness earlier this year in Musk’s legal battle with OpenAI.
Born in Ontario, Canada, and a Yale University graduate, Zilis first met Musk through OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company he helped co-found in 2015.
Zilis, who shares four of Musk’s 14 children, suggested she had been blindsided by the breakup after posting a screenshot of affectionate messages the pair exchanged just days earlier.
Zilis appeared to indicate that the separation came unexpectedly. She and Musk are pictured meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington, DC, in February last year.
During her testimony, Zilis said their relationship began with “a one-off” encounter at a corporate off-site event before developing into a friendship.
She later joined Tesla, working as a project director on the company’s Autopilot team from 2017 to 2019. She subsequently became director of operations and special projects at Musk’s brain-implant company, Neuralink.
Zilis told the jury that, after deciding to have children as a single mother, Musk offered to provide a donation as a platonic sperm donor.
Their twins, Strider and Azure, were born by IVF in November 2021. News of their third child, Arcadia, surfaced in June 2024. Their son, Seldon Lycurgus, followed in February 2025.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Zilis and Musk.
More to follow.
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