Agencies-Gaza post
Musk denies any relation with Google co-founder’s wife
Tesla chief Elon Musk rejected having an affair with Nicole Shanahan, the wife of Google co-founder, Sergey Brin.
Mr. Musk’s remarks came after the Wall Street Journal said that his friendship with Mr. Brin had finished 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 added that he is still friends with Mr. Brin and that they were “at a party together last night!”
Quoting people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal stated that Mr. Musk was engaged in a brief affair late last year with Ms. Shanahan.
This started Mr. Brin to file for divorce earlier this year and ended the long companionship between the two high-profile technology billionaires, the report also said.
But Mr. Musk said via Twitter, “I’ve only seen Nicole twice in three years, both times with many other people around. Nothing romantic”.
At the time of the alleged affair in December, Mr. Brin and his wife were disconnected but still living together, the Wall Street Journal said, citing a person close to Ms. Shanahan.
In a different 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 contract, Mr. Brin and Ms. Shanahan are currently negotiating a divorce payment, which could be as much as $1bn
Ms. Shanahan is a California-based attorney and founder of lawful technology business ClearAccessIP and the Bia-Echo Foundation, according to her LinkedIn profile.
The Bia-Echo Foundation is a philanthropic organization that encourages “reproductive longevity & equality, criminal justice reform, and a healthy & livable planet”.
Mr. Musk, who is also the director of rocket firm SpaceX, is currently mired in a legal fight over his quit plan to buy Twitter for $44bn.
Earlier this month, the social media forum sued him after he revealed he was walking away from his proposed takeover of the firm.
Mr. Musk is the world’s richest person, with an assessed fortune of more than $240bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
According to the same index, Mr. Brin is worth around $95bn, earning him the eighth richest person in the world.
Ms. Shanahan, Mr. Brin, and Google did not directly answer BBC’s demands for comment.
