Tesla and SpaceX CEO and entrepreneur billionaire Elon Musk confirmed he had another child, his 14th child, a baby boy he had with Shivon Zilis, who is a top exec at his neurotechnology company Neuralink. The news came Feb. 28, 2025, when Zilis posted about it on social media, saying their baby is “built like a juggernaut, with a solid heart of gold.” The news was confirmed in a plain heart emoji by Musk, and online there is much chatter about his ever-growing family.
Elon Musk, arguably the world’s greatest entrepreneur, has for some time had no compunction about making his attitude towards child-bearing known and is quick to state the risks of population loss whenever possible. He has since had 14 children across different women, reaffirming his commitment to his theory that there need to be more births for society to be sustainable.
Shivon Zilis, who is a Canadian venture capitalist and Director of Special Projects and Operations at Neuralink, hit the news for the first time in 2022 when she had twin sons Strider and Azure with Musk. The duo is also parents to a daughter, Arcadia, who was born in 2023. Seldon Lycurgus is their fourth child.
She posted the news on Twitter (now known as X), explaining she and Musk had agreed to share news in celebration of Arcadia’s birthday. The announcement evoked a split reaction, as some celebrated and some criticized Musk for his priorities and parenting.
Public discourse regarding Musk as a parent has cropped up time and time again as critics have questioned whether his demanding entrepreneurial ventures allow for sufficient time for family. Some have lauded his dedication to population issues worldwide, mirroring his past pronouncements about waging a supposed “population collapse.” Musk has 14 kids in total across multiple relationships, including his ex-wife Justine Wilson, who is a writer and mother to twin sons Griffin and Vivian and sons Kai, Saxon, and Damian who are triplets. His oldest child, Nevada Alexander Musk, passed away at just 10 weeks old.
With singer Grimes, entrepreneur and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has three children: X AE A-XII (informally nicknamed X), Exa Dark Sideræl (Y), and Techno Mechanicus (Tau). Also in recent days, influencer Ashley St. Clair came out and openly claimed she had borne a child for Musk five months ago, and that claim is being legally challenged. St. Clair asked for sole custody, and a judge in New York ordered Musk to file a response to a paternity testing inquiry on or before May 29, 2025.
Musk’s unusual and extensive family structure raised questions among family experts and sociologists. As modern parenting expert and sociologist Dr. Sarah Whitmore puts it, “Musk is a unique case of extreme wealth supporting unusual family arrangements. Finances are no longer an issue, but personal and emotional commitment are still open questions.”
Pro-natalist pundits hail Musk as a champion in bringing to a stop Western nations’ population downturn. His critics, though, say he is ideologically as opposed to practically thinking when it comes to being a dad. Parenting experts and psychologists have waded in on the discussion about whether and how much Musk’s extended family is compatible with typical parental tasks.
