All About Elon Musk's 12 Children — And Why He Has So Many
Tesla and X (formerly known as Twitter ) CEO Elon Musk has lent his voice to a wide variety of issues over the years, most recently advocating for Donald Trump during the presidential election.
One cause the tech entrepreneur, 53, is particularly passionate about is "pro-natalism," a movement that encourages individuals to have larger families as a remedy to perceived population decline. (While the rate of population growth is slowing, the population of the planet has continued to increase over the last century, according to Bloomberg .)
The proposed head of the "Department of Government Efficiency" in the Trump administration has fathered 12 children in total, although one of his children passed away as an infant. Here's the latest information on the Musk children and their mothers.
With first wife Justine Wilson
Musk was married to fantasy author Justine Wilson from 2000 until their separation in 2008. Their firstborn son, Nevada Alexander, died at only 10 weeks old due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). After the loss of their first son, Wilson and Musk went on to have five children via IVF.
Twins Griffin and Vivian were born in 2004. Vivian, who is transgender, has publicly criticized and disowned her father, and had her surname legally changed to Wilson in 2022.
In 2006, Wilson and Musk welcomed triplets Saxon, Kai, and Damian, who have largely kept out of the public eye.
After attempting couple's therapy briefly, Wilson and Musk divorced in 2008.
With Grimes (legal name Claire Elise Boucher)
Canadian singer Grimes has had an on-again, off-again relationship with the tech CEO over the years. They have three children together, who have made headlines for their unusual names.
X Æ A-Xii Musk, a boy, was born in May of 2020. Musk explained on The Joe Rogan Experience that the name is pronounced "X Ash A Twelve."
Musk and Grimes briefly separated in September 2021, but rekindled their romance and welcomed a daughter, Exa Dark Sideræl Musk, via surrogate in December 2021. According to an interview Grimes gave to Vanity Fair , the baby's nickname is "Y."
After another separation during which Musk fathered twins with Shivon Zillis, he and Grimes had another baby, Techno Mechanicus Musk, who they call "Tau," in 2022. After another breakup, Grimes began a custody battle with Musk. The singer's mother, Sandy Garossino, publicly beseeched Musk on X to allow the children to travel and see their 93-year-old great-grandmother in July. "Return the children," Garossino wrote on X, adding: "Please Elon, I beg you." Musk has not commented on the custody dispute.
With Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis
The relationship between Musk and Zilis, a 38-year-old executive at Musk's braintech company Neuralink, has been kept fairly private. The exact nature of their relationship is unknown — Time described her as Musk's "intellectual companion on artificial intelligence" in a 2023 story about the CEO's AI ventures. Zilis was seen with Musk in photos from a gala at Mar-A-Lago on Saturday, November 16, marking a rare public appearance together.
Zilis gave birth to twins Strider and Azure in 2021. The twins appeared to be at Mar-A-Lago with their parents on Saturday, per photos obtained by The Daily Mail.
