Who are Elon Musk’s twelve children? Inside the Tesla CEO’s large brood
It’s no secret that Elon Musk has always wanted to have a large family and he once claimed that ‘civilization is going to crumble’ if people don’t have more children.
So far, the 53-year-old billionaire has fathered 12 kids with three different women, and caused quite the stir when he attended a press conference alongside President Donald Trump at the Oval office recently with his four-year-old son in tow.
Trump appeared to be mesmerized by Musk’s child X Æ A-12, who was seen whispering something in the President’s ear at one point – but even his own mother claimed the boy ‘should not be in public.’
However, that didn’t stop Musk from parading additional members of his brood days later when he showed up for a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with three of his young children.
Speaking at a Wall Street Journal event back in 2021, Musk said low and rapidly declining birth rates were ‘one of the biggest risks to civilization,’ and claimed that ‘there are not enough people’ in the world.
When asked if that was why he had so many children, the businessman said he was trying to set a good example, and said that he has to practice what he preached.
At that point he was already a father to 11 kids, but sadly his first child Nevada – whom he had with his first wife Justine Wilson – died of sudden infant death syndrome in 2002 at the age of 10 weeks.
Here, FEMAIL takes a look at the Tesla founder’s brood so far.
Elon Musk pictured in the Oval office on February 11 with his four-year-old son X Æ A-12, known as X
The child, whose mother is Grimes, sat on his famous father’s shoulders as President Donald Trump looked on
Musk and three of his children were pictured during a meeting with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 13
The billionaire fathered six kids with his first wife Justine Wilson, but sadly his first child passed away
Following the tragic death of his son Nevada, Musk went on to have five more children with Canadian author Wilson, 52.
Musk and Wilson had married in January 2000, and decided to use IVF to continue their family.
In 2004, they welcomed twins Griffin and Xavier, but the latter is transgender and now goes by the name Vivian.
Musk is estranged from Vivian and said in a 2024 interview that he is against gender ideology, and claimed he was tricked by doctors into signing documents for his son to be given ‘puberty blockers.’
‘I lost my son, essentially. My son is dead, killed by the woke mind virus,’ he told Jordan Peterson, before adding: ‘So I vowed to destroy the woke mind virus after that.’
Since coming out as a trans woman, Vivian has adopted her mother’s surname because she no longer wishes to be associated with Musk.
Musk also shares triplets named Kai, Saxon and Damian with Wilson, who were born in 2006.
The couple divorced two years later in 2008, and in a 2010 essay she wrote for Marie Clare, Wilson said she felt more like an ’employee’ to Musk than a partner.
Elon Musk and his first wife Justine Wilson sadly lost their first child, a son named Nevada Alexander, when he died of sudden infant death syndrome in 2002
Musk and his four sons Griffin, Damian, Kai and Saxon are seen here with Pope Francis in 2022
Musk and Wilson’s son Xavier is now a transgender woman who goes by the name Vivian Jenna Wilson
Musk shares three children, including his son X Æ A-12, with ex partner Grimes
It was confirmed in 2018 that Musk was dating Canadian singer/songwriter Grimes – whose real name is Claire Elise Boucher.
The couple welcomed their first child, X., in May 2020 and originally gave their son the name X Æ A-12, which would have violated California regulations as it contained characters that are not in the modern English alphabet.
They then changed the child’s name to X Æ A-Xii. and received plenty of criticism for choosing a name perceived to be impractical and difficult to pronounce.
The following year they welcomed their daughter Exa Dark Sideræl via surrogacy.
In between then and welcoming their son Tao in 2023, the couple ‘semi-separated’ and in January 2022, Grimes said of Musk: ‘I would probably refer to him as my boyfriend, but we’re very fluid.’
However, two months later in March 2022, she described Musk as her ‘best friend and the love of my life.’
Following the birth of their third child, Grimes sued Musk in September 2023 over parental rights to their children in a California court. Musk allegedly fought to keep the hearing closed, asking for the documents to be sealed.
Musk pictured with his ex Grimes, whom he has three young children with including son X
Grimes and Musk welcomed their daughter Exa Dark Sideræl some time in 2021
Upon seeing her son in the Oval office, Grimes berated her former flame on social media and said: ‘He should not be in public like this. I did not see this, thank you for alerting me. But I’m glad he was polite. Sigh.’
The singer revealed in November last year that she has been in a year-long custody battle with Musk, during which time she allegedly did not see one of her children for five months.
Musk sued for for custody of the children he shares with Grimes in Texas, where his businesses are headquartered.
Grimes then counter-sued filing a ‘petition to establish parental relationship’ in a California court, typically seen as the first step in suing for custody for unmarried parents.
She claimed that Musk was withholding access to her kids and even prevented them from seeing their terminally ill maternal grandmother.
A Travis County Clerk confirmed that the Texas dispute had been settled, but declined to give further details.
Grimes claimed the ordeal almost left her ‘bankrupt’ and unable to make new music.
The Tesla founder has fathered three kids with Neuralink employee Shivon Zilis
Musk has a further three children with one of his Neuralink employees Shivon Zilis.
Shortly before Grimes welcomed their daughter Exa, Zilis, 39, gave birth to a set of twins named Strider and Azure in June 2021.
The news was made public months later in court documents published by Insider, which revealed that Musk and Zilis asked a Texas county court to amend their children’s names to ‘have their father’s last name and contain their mother’s last name as part of their middle name.’
The following day, Musk addressed the birth of his twins on X, formerly Twitter, and said that he was doing his ‘best to help the underpopulation crisis.’
‘A collapsing birth rate is the biggest danger civilization faces by far,’ he posted. ‘Mark my words, they are sadly true.’
Zilis, who was born in Ontario, Canada, met Musk through OpenAI, the artificial-intelligence research-and-deployment nonprofit Musk cofounded in 2015, Insider reported.
Musk and Shivon Zilis pictured with their twins Strider and Azure who were born in June 2021
It was reported that Zilis said Musk ‘really wants smart people to have kids’, and claimed that he sought to be her sperm donor so that the ‘kids would be genetically his’
She studied economics and philosophy at Yale where she also played goalie on the women’s ice-hockey team.
It was reported that Zilis said Musk ‘really wants smart people to have kids’, and claimed that he sought to be her sperm donor so that the ‘kids would be genetically his.’
In June 2024, the tech CEO confirmed to Page Six that he and Zilis had welcomed their third child together earlier in the year, but he did not share the name or sex of the baby.
‘As for “secretly fathered,” that is also false,’ he told the outlet in a statement. ‘All our friends and family know. Failure to issue a press release, which would be bizarre, does not mean “secret.”‘
In July 2022, Musk also told the publication: ‘Bravo to big families,’ and said that he wants ‘as many [kids] as I am able to spend time with and be a good father.’
Last October, reports emerged that said Zilis had moved into a sprawling $35 million compound in Austin, Texas, that the billionaire had purchased with the intention of his 11 children all living together.
