"My partner Shivon Zilis is half Indian." Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk recently appeared on Zerodha founder Nikhil Kamath's WTF with Nikhil Kamath podcast. The billionaire revealed that his partner, Shivon Zilis, is half Indian. He further shared that the middle name of one of his sons with Zilis is "Sekhar."
He added that the name Sekhar was given after the Indian-American physicist and Nobel laureate Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.
During the interview, Musk said, "I'm not sure if you know this, but my partner Shivon is half Indian. One of my sons with her -- his middle name is Sekhar, after Chandrasekhar."
When Kamath, the host, asked about Zilis's ancestral details, Elon answered:
"She grew up in Canada. She was given up for adoption when she was a baby. I think her father was an exchange student at the university or something like that."
Musk added, "I'm not sure of the exact details, but she was given up for adoption. She grew up in Canada."
Zilis has four children with Musk -- twins Strider and Azure, daughter Arcadia, and son Seldon Lycurgus. She joined Musk's AI company Neuralink in 2017 and is currently the Director of Operations and Special Projects. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Philosophy from Yale University.
Musk also stated that America has benefitted greatly from talented Indians.
"America has been an immense beneficiary of talent from India, but that seems to be changing now," he said.
These comments come at a time when U.S. visa restrictions have prevented countless Indians from planning to move abroad. The growing unpredictability around the matter has further added to the concerns of many Indians.
Musk, who himself first worked in the U.S. on an H-1B visa, has long been outspoken about the system. Earlier, while reacting to a critic on X, he said:
"The reason I'm in America, along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong, is because of H-1B. Take a big step back and FUCK YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend."
The White House has pointed out that the new measures aim to prevent visa system abuse. Citing a sharp increase in H-1B IT workers and higher unemployment among recent computer science graduates, officials argue that the new fee will deter companies from overusing the program and lowering wages, while providing certainty for employers who genuinely need skilled talent.