Tesla CEO Elon Musk denied on Twitter a Wall Street Journal article from earlier this week that claims he had an affair with the wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin.
Mr. Musk decried the amount of media attention he attracts but said he will ignore it while calling the article flimsy, unsupported “hearsay.”
“The amount of attention on me has gone supernova, which super sucks. Unfortunately even trivial articles about me generate a lot of clicks,” Mr. Musk said. “Will try my best to be heads down focused on doing useful things for civilization.”
The Wall Street Journal article in question alleges that Mr. Musk had an affair with Nicole Shanahan in 2021, leading Mr. Brin to file for divorce in January. The couple had reportedly separated in December.
The liaison in question took place in December at Art Basel in Miami, according to The Journal. The article also claims that, at another event earlier this year, Mr. Musk dropped to his knees and asked Mr. Brin to forgive him.
Since the article’s publication, Mr. Musk has gone on the offensive, directing most of his ire at Michael Siconolfi, investigations editor at The Wall Street Journal.
In an attempt to discredit the article, Mr. Musk posted a selfie of himself partying with Mr. Brin, which according to Mr. Musk, was taken just last Sunday.
“WSJ should be running stories that actually matter to their readers and have solid factual basis, not third party random hearsay,” Mr. Musk said.
He went on trying to rebut the report further by claiming that “[I] haven’t had sex in ages (sigh),” and claiming that Mr. Siconolfi has no journalistic integrity.
“None of the key people involved in these alleged wrongdoings were even interviewed!” Mr. Musk said.
Mr. Siconolfi has not responded to Mr. Musk’s comments.
“Recent attacks on Michael Siconolfi are unwarranted and unfounded. Mike is a celebrated and widely respected editor and reporter in our industry. He has overseen a wide array of impactful stories with integrity and high standards for The Wall Street Journal over many decades. For the record, Mike was not part of the editing team for this story,” a Wall Street Journal spokesperson said in an email.
Mr. Musk has been under the microscope of the media frequently this year. He has been accused of secretly fathering children with different women and of exposing himself to a flight attendant, which he denied.
Both Mr. Musk and Mr. Brin have been close associates for years.
Mr. Brin supported Mr. Musk in his financial endeavors during the 2008 recession and they have been seen together at various events ever since.
However, the article by Kirsten Grind and Emily Glazer claims that the two have fallen out over the affair and that Mr. Brin has instructed his aides to sell all his investments in Mr. Musk’s companies.
The Wall Street Journal said it is standing by its story and sources, despite Mr. Musk’s accusations.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
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