Elon Musk Welcomes 12th Child He Insists Wasn't a 'Secret'

The Tesla CEO welcomed his third child with Shivon Zilis earlier this year, making him a father of 12.

Elon Musk privately welcomed his third child with Neuralink director of special projects, Shivon Zilis, earlier this year -- but he insists the child's birth was not a "secret."

"All our friends and family know," the businessman said in a recent interview with Page Six about his twelfth child -- whose name, gender and exact birthday have not yet been revealed. "Failure to issue a press release, which would be bizarre, does not mean 'secret.'"

The two previously welcomed twin babies Strider and Azure Zilis Musk in November 2021 by in vitro fertilization. While they didn't share an official announcement when they were both either, they have since shared a number of photos of the children.

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Musk first met Zilis when she became an adviser for OpenAI, an organization co-founded by him in 2016. Zilis, whose career began at IBM, also earned a spot in Forbes 30 Under 30 for venture-capitalists in 2015 for her work at Bloomberg Beta prior to her roles at Tesla and Neuralink.

Though he has remained a little more private about his relationships and children in recent years, Musk was not always as exclusive with the information he shares with the public.

In 2020, Musk took to Twitter to announce the due date for his now 4-year-old son X Æ A-Xii with singer Grimes . After experiencing difficulty during the pregnancy, they used surrogates to welcome 2-year-old daughter Exa Dark Sideræl and son Techno Mechanicus.

Grimes, who has had an on-and-off relationship with Musk, is currently suing him over parental rights for their three children.

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Musk also had six children with his ex-wife Justine Wilson Musk: twins Griffin and Vivian and triplets Kai, Savon and Damian, as well as their first born, Nevada, who died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) at only 10 weeks.

The SpaceX founder has been open about his concern for global population decline, telling Page Six, "Many countries are already well below replacement rate." He added, "2.1 kids is replacement rate, and obviously the world as a whole will soon drop below that point."

In 2022 he stated that he wants as many kids as he is "able to spend time with and be a good father."

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