Who is Shivon Zilis? Elon Musk reveals half-Indian heritage of partner on Nikhil Kamath’s podcast

Elon Musk has disclosed that his partner, Shivon Zilis, an executive at his neurotechnology company Neuralink, is of half-Indian origin. Speaking during a podcast conversation with Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath, Musk stated that Zilis has Indian ancestry through her mother and went on to mention that one of their sons carries an Indian middle name, chosen as a tribute to Nobel Prize-winning Indian-American astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. He informed that their son’s middle name, Sekhar, was selected in Chandrasekhar’s honour.

Musk and Zilis share four children together - twins Strider and Azure, daughter Arcadia, and son Seldon Lycurgus. Zilis, who was reportedly born in Canada to Indian mother Sharda N and Canadian father Richard Zilis, holds dual citizenship in Canada and the United States. A graduate of Yale University, she studied economics and philosophy before beginning her career in technology, artificial intelligence and venture capital.

Over the course of her professional journey, Zilis has held significant roles within some of the most influential companies in the tech sector. She previously served as Project Director at Tesla between 2017 and 2019 and now works as director of operations and special projects at Neuralink, Musk’s brain-implant company.

Recognised early for her contributions to AI, Zilis was named to Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list in the venture capital category in 2015. She has collaborated with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and was among the founding members of Bloomberg Beta, Bloomberg LP’s early-stage venture capital arm, where she led nine investments. She is understood to have met Musk through AI-industry circles in San Francisco when she became involved with OpenAI, which Musk was associated with at the time.