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Who is Shivon Zilis, Elon Musk's half-Indian partner he spoke about on Nikhil Kamath's podcast?
Shivon Zilis and Elon Musk share four children: twins Strider and Azure, daughter Arcadia, and son Seldon Lycurgus.
Elon Musk has revealed that his partner, Shivon Zilis, who is an executive at his neurotechnology company Neuralink, is of half-Indian descent. Speaking during a podcast conversation with Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath, Musk shared details about Zilis’ background, saying, “My partner Shivon, she’s half Indian. She was given up for adoption when she was a baby. She grew up in Canada.”
Musk also disclosed that one of their sons carries an Indian middle name as a tribute to Nobel Prize-winning Indian-American astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. “One of my sons with her… his middle name is Sekhar after Nobel laureate Chandra Sekhar,” he said.
Notably, Zilis and Musk share four children: twins Strider and Azure, daughter Arcadia, and son Seldon Lycurgus.
(Also Read: ‘My son’s middle name is Sekhar’: Elon Musk tells Nikhil Kamath about partner Shivon’s Indian roots)
Who is Shivon Zilis?
Shivon Zilis was born in Canada to an Indian mother, Sharda N, and a Canadian father, Richard Zilis. She holds dual citizenship in Canada and the United States. A Yale University graduate, she studied economics and philosophy before entering the world of tech, AI and venture capital.
Over the years, Zilis has held key roles in some of the most influential companies in the tech ecosystem. She previously worked at Tesla as Project Director between 2017 and 2019. She currently serves as director of operations and special projects at Neuralink, a brain implant company owned by Musk.
Zilis was recognised early in her career for her work in artificial intelligence. In 2015, Forbes named her to its “30 Under 30” list in the venture capital category. She has also worked with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and was one of the founding members of Bloomberg Beta, an early-stage venture capital firm backed by Bloomberg LP, where she led nine investments.
She is believed to have met Musk through AI industry connections in San Francisco when she became involved with OpenAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence initiative at the time.
