Dumped, sued and exposed: is this Elon Musk’s worst week yet? From that Twitter lawsuit and his secret twins revelation with Shivon Zilis, to girlfriend Natasha Bassett breaking up with him

Jul 14 , 2022

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has been in the news a lot of late, and it’s not all about business ... Photo: Reuters

The world’s richest man, who has an estimated net worth of US$226 billion, has probably had one of his toughest weeks.

Not only is the Tesla and SpaceX CEO facing a mammoth lawsuit after backing out of his infamous Twitter buyout, it was revealed he had fathered twins with a business executive who worked for him a month before he and his girlfriend at the time, singer Grimes, welcomed their second child together via surrogate. To top it off, his latest romance with actress Natasha Bassett is rumoured to be over because of his shock baby news.

Here’s everything you need to know …

Twitter sues over his about-turn on his US$44 billion buy

Elon Musk pulled the plug on his deal to buy Twitter, accusing the company of “misleading” statements. Photo: AFP

Twitter Inc. is suing Musk for what it claims is a violation of a US$44 billion deal to buy the social media platform. Twitter asked a Delaware court to order that the deal goes ahead as planned.

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“Musk apparently believes that he, unlike every other party subject to Delaware contract law, is free to change his mind, trash the company, disrupt operations, destroy stockholder value and walkway,” said the organisation in a statement.

Twitter is suing Elon Musk over his turnaround on his deal. Photo: Reuters.

Musk has been widely reported as saying he was ending the deal as Twitter did not comply with requests for information regarding fake or spam accounts on the platform. Twitter saw its shares tumble to US$34.06 from US$50 when the deal was first accepted.

His surprise twins revelation with AI queen Shivon Zilis

Shivon Zilis and Elon Musk. Photos: @shivon/Twitter, @elonrmuskk/Instagram

In the same week of the Twitter deal drama, the news broke that Musk had fathered twins with a colleague. Shivon Zilis is on the board of OpenAI and Neuralink, both linked to Musk. Zilis is a respected AI engineer and is known to give public talks on her developments with machine technology.

Shivon Zilis is on the board of Elon Musk’s companies. Photo: @shivon/Twitter

She apparently welcomed twins in November last year. She also reportedly moved to Austin, Texas, where Musk is based, to be closer to him. Neither have commented on the news. The information surfaced after court papers emerged, revealing Zilis had requested for the twins to have Musk’s surname.

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… And his second child with Grimes a month later

Elon Musk and Grimes have two children together. Photo: Reuters

Singer Grimes confirmed earlier this year in a Vanity Fair interview that she and Musk had welcomed a second child together. The baby girl, named Exa Dark Sideræl, was welcomed via surrogate in December. This was just one month after Zilis, the business executive Musk had fathered twins with, welcomed their children.

Grimes has said she and Elon Musk remain good friends. Photo: @grimes/Instagram

After news broke about the new additions to Musk’s family, old tweets where Musk said he was doing his “bit” to increase the population in the US re-emerged. Musk was responding to information about the birth rate in the US facing a downward trend. In March, Grimes confirmed she and Musk had split, but she has said they remain good friends.

Natasha Bassett and Elon Musk – broken up?

Natasha Bassett has reportedly moved on from Elon Musk after news broke about his secret twins. Photos: Invision/AP, TNS

Multiple outlets have reported that Musk and Australian actress Natasha Bassett ended their relationship after the news of his secret twins was revealed to the world.

Hollywood Life reported that Bassett, who starred as Britney Spears in TV film Britney Ever After and played a girlfriend of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll in this year’s Elvis, considered her relationship with Musk as “special and surreal”, but had decided to focus on her career. In June, it was reported she and Musk had been dating for a few months.

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Tesla lays off more than 200 employees

Tesla is laying off 229 employees at its San Mateo office, which is going to close. Photo: AP

In June, Musk warned that worker lay-offs at Tesla would be expected. The news was confirmed after staff were given notice of the action. Reuters reported that 229 employees at the San Mateo office would lose their jobs. The office is also going to be permanently closed.

Elon Musk talks to the press at the site of Tesla Gigafactory near Berlin. Photo: Getty Images/TNS

According to Bloomberg, Musk said the company was expected to increase its hourly workforce. Crunchbase has also reported that more than 28,000 workers had lost their jobs in the tech industry in the US this year alone – ouch.

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Fame and celebrity

News broke that the SpaceX CEO fathered twins with AI engineer and colleague Shivon Zilis in November 2021 – just a month before his ex Grimes had her second kid with him
Australian actress Natasha Bassett, who recently starred in Elvis, ended her relationship with Musk after news of his secret twins was revealed to the world