Elon Musk reacts to alleged affair with Google co-founder Sergey Brin’s ex-wife

Tesla chief Elon Musk has denied allegations in a series of tweets that he had a brief affair with the wife of his longtime friend Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

“This is total bs. Sergey and I are friends and were at a party together last night!” Mr Musk said in response to a Twitter user sharing the Wall Street Journal report about the alleged affair.

“I’ve only seen Nicole twice in three years, both times with many other people around. Nothing romantic,” the SpaceX chief said.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the report alleged Mr Musk’s affair with entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan led to her and Mr Brin filing for divorce.

The couple, who were married in 2018, reportedly cited “irreconcilable differences” in a filing at the Superior Court of California in Santa Clara County in January which notes that the couple separated on 15 December 2021.

“I hope for Sergey and I to move forward with dignity, honesty and harmony for the sake of our child. And we are both working towards that,” Ms Shanahan told news website Puck earlier this month.

This is total bs. Sergey and I are friends and were at a party together last night!

I’ve only seen Nicole twice in three years, both times with many other people around. Nothing romantic.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 25, 2022

The WSJ reported there has been “growing tension” between the Tesla chief and the Google co-founder and their teams.

It alleged Mr Brin had instructed his advisers to sell his personal investments in Mr Musk’s companies in recent months.

Mr Musk hit out at the outlet in a series of tweets.

“WSJ has run so many bs hit pieces on me and Tesla I’ve lost count! It’s embarrassing for them, frankly,” he said in a reply to a Twitter user.

“WSJ is supposed to have a high standard for journalism and, right now, they are way sub tabloid. WSJ should be running stories that actually matter to their readers and have solid factual basis, not third-party random hearsay,” he said in another tweet.

WSJ has run so many bs hit pieces on me and Tesla I’ve lost count! It’s embarrassing for them, frankly.

They once wrote an article saying FBI was about to arrest me, so I called FBI to ask what’s up and they said WSJ article was total bs.

Just more shortseller fud.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 25, 2022

Call them out on it, I guess. WSJ is supposed to have a high standard for journalism and, right now, they are way sub tabloid.

WSJ should be running stories that actually matter to their readers and have solid factual basis, not third-party random hearsay.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 25, 2022

The Tesla chief continues to be the world’s wealthiest person with an estimated fortune of over $220bn and Mr Brin is the seventh wealthiest person in the world with $107bn.

The WSJ report comes following months of public scrutiny into Mr Musk’s personal life as well as his business deals.

In May, the multibillionaire denied allegations that he sexually harassed a flight attendant at his aerospace company SpaceX and Business Insider reported this month that he fathered twins with an executive at his neurotech firm, Neuralink.

He attempted to buy majority stakes in Twitter before pulling out of the deal.

The Tesla chief is set to face a court showdown with Twitter in October after losing a bid to delay the platform’s lawsuit against him arguing Mr Musk is legally bound to carry out his $44bn acquisition of the social network.

His EV company also faces federal inquiry into its autopilot system that has been involved in at least 16 crashes that resulted in 15 injuries and one death.