Elon Musk also revealed his partner’s Indian heritage, naming their son ‘Shekhar’

New Delhi. Elon Musk recently revealed that his partner and Neuralink executive, Shivon Gillis, is of Indian origin. Musk also revealed that one of his sons’ middle names is “Shekhar,” in honor of the renowned Indian-American scientist and Nobel laureate Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. Musk also praised the significant contributions of Indian professionals in the United States and said that Indian talent has greatly benefited America.

Son named after an Indian-American scientist
Speaking on Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath’s podcast, Elon Musk revealed some interesting facts about his partner, Shivon Gillis. Musk said, “My partner, Shivon, is half Indian. He also revealed that his and Shivon’s son has the middle name “Shekhar,” named after the great Indian-American scientist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. Chandrasekhar received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1983.

What is Shivon Zilis’s connection to India?
When asked if Shivon had ever lived in India, Musk said that she has ancestral ties to India, meaning she has Indian background somewhere in her family, but she herself did not grow up in India. According to Musk, Shivon grew up in Canada and was adopted as a child. It is believed that her biological father was an exchange student at the university at one time. Musk said that he does not know the full story and cannot elaborate further. Meaning, Shivon Zilis has roots in India, but her childhood and life were spent in Canada.

Who is Shivon Zilis?
Shivonne Gillis, a close associate of Elon Musk, has been working in the field of technology and artificial intelligence (AI) for many years. She joined Neuralink in 2017 and is now the company’s Director of Operations and Special Projects. Shivonne Gillis was born and raised in Ontario, Canada. She studied economics and philosophy at Yale University. In college, she was the goalkeeper for the ice hockey team. After her studies, she worked at IBM and Bloomberg, managing startup partnerships. She then joined the venture capital firm Bloomberg Beta.

Talented people from India have greatly benefited.
In 2016, Gillis’s focus shifted entirely to AI. She joined OpenAI and remained the youngest member of OpenAI’s board until her resignation in 2023. At an event, she said that Neuralink is “the most complex but most exciting project” of her life. Musk and Gillis welcomed twins, Strider and Azur, in 2021.

In 2024, they welcomed their daughter, Arcadia, and later confirmed the birth of another child, Seldon Lycurgus. Musk has several other children with various partners. At the same event, Elon Musk also praised the talent of Indians in America, stating that the United States has benefited greatly from the talented people from India. This statement comes at a time when stricter US visa regulations are making it increasingly difficult for many Indians to achieve the “American Dream.”