Elon Musk has found himself at the centre of controversy, once again.
On Sunday (July 24), the Wall Street Journal shared a bombshell report claiming that the Tesla CEO slept with the wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who also happens to be one of Musk’s longtime friends (and was once even a major source of financial aid for him).
Nicole Shanahan and Sergey Brin in 2019 — Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images
The South African engineer has frequently spoken about how he spent years regularly crashing at the tech founder’s home in Silicon Valley, though that came to an end after his fling with Brin’s wife, Nicole Shanahan, which took place last year in December.
At the time of the affair, the couple is said to have been “separated but still living together,” according to a source close to the 37-year-old.
By January of 2022, Brin (who has a net worth of $95B) filed for divorce in January, citing “irreconcilable differences.” At the same time, he ordered his financial advisors to liquidate any investments in Musk’s various companies.
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Back in 2008, the Russia-born businessman gave Musk a $500K lifeline for Tesla while it was struggling to increase its production in the midst of the Great Recession, and in turn, the father of 10 gave his friend one of the company’s first all-electric SUV’s.
Elsewhere in the report, it was alleged that at a party earlier this year, the controversial billionaire dropped to one knee in front of the Google mastermind while apologizing profusely and begging for forgiveness.
Brin is said to have acknowledged the apology, though the two aren’t yet on a regular speaking basis; it remains unclear if they ever will be again.
Read the Wall Street Journal‘s full story here, and tap back in with HNHH later for more pop culture news updates.