Who is Shivon Zilis ? A Punjabi, mother to Elon Musk's four kids and central figure in OpenAI trial
PTC News Desk: In a moment that sparked laughter in court, Elon Musk briefly hesitated when asked under oath about Shivon Zilis. “She is my chief of staff,” he said, before pausing. The next day, during continued testimony in his case against Sam Altman and OpenAI, Musk clarified: “We live together. And she’s the mother of four of my children.”
Zilis, 40, was born in Markham, Ontario to a Punjabi-origin mother and a Canadian father. She studied at Yale University, where she also played hockey, after attending Unionville High School. She began her career at IBM in its cognitive computing division and later became a founding member of Bloomberg Beta. In 2015, she was featured in Forbes “30 Under 30” list. Her mother, Sharda Zilis, met her father, Richard Zilis, while she was an exchange student in Canada.
Zilis started working with OpenAI around 2016 as an adviser and served on its non-profit board until 2023. Around the same period, she is believed to have formed a personal relationship with Musk.
Her professional ties with Musk grew stronger over time. She worked at Tesla between 2017 and 2019 on Autopilot and chip design projects, and later took on a senior role at Neuralink.
Zilis and Musk have four children together—twins born in 2021, a daughter in 2023, and a son in 2024. Musk publicly acknowledged their relationship during the court proceedings, bringing previously private details into public view.
Zilis’ relevance in the ongoing case also stems from her connections within OpenAI. Court filings suggest she stayed in touch with its leadership even after Musk stepped down from the board in 2018. In one message presented in court, she reportedly asked whether she should maintain friendly ties with the organisation “to keep info flowing” or distance herself. Musk’s response, according to the filings, was to remain close.
- With inputs from agencies
