Elon Musk, the world's wealthiest man, had a brief affair last year with Nicole Shanahan, the wife of Google co-founder and Musk's longtime friend, Sergey Brin, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
The affair led to Brin filing for divorce from his wife in January and the end of the two tech magnates' friendship, according to the WSJ report which cited anonymous individuals familiar with the matter.
As per the report, Musk and Shanahan connected at an art show in Miami in December. Brin, who was separated from but still living with Shanahan at the time, cited the couple's separation date as December 15.
The Google mogul discovered the affair during a party earlier this year. Upon learning of Brin's knowledge of the affair, the Tesla CEO reportedly dropped down to his knees and begged him for forgiveness.
WSJ said that while Brin acknowledged Musk's apology, he did not accept it and the two are not speaking, the report said, adding that Brin ordered his financial advisers to sell all of his personal investments in Musk's different companies, without detailing the scale of those investments and whether a sale has been completed.
'Total b*******'
Shanahan addressed her separation from Brin in an interview with digital news site Puck, stating she hopes "for Sergey and myself to move forward with dignity, honesty and harmony for the sake of our child."
"We are both working towards that," added Shanahan, who operates a foundation focused on reproductive justice.
Musk vehemently denied the WSJ report on Twitter early Monday morning, calling it "total BS."
"I’ve only seen Nicole twice in three years, both times with many other people around. Nothing romantic."
Elon Musk
"I’ve only seen Nicole twice in three years, both times with many other people around," Musk claimed. "Nothing romantic."
Musk went on to tweet that "WSJ has run so many bs hit pieces on me and Tesla" that he has lost count. "WSJ is supposed to have a high standard for journalism and, right now, they are way sub tabloid."
Shanahan and a lawyer representing Brin refused to respond to WSJ's request for comment.