‘My Partner Is Half Indian, Son's Middle Name Is Sekhar’: Elon Musk On Nikhil Kamath Podcast

Last Updated:November 30, 2025, 23:24 IST

Elon Musk spoke with Nikhil Kamath about partner Shivon’s Indian origin and said their son carried the middle name Sekhar.

Elon Musk spoke with Nikhil Kamath about partner Shivon’s Indian origin.

Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath has released the much-awaited episode of his podcast series “WTF is", featuring tech mogul Elon Musk, where the latter held wide-ranging discussions on technology, entrepreneurship, and AI, along with rare personal insights from the billionaire.

During the conversation, the Tesla CEO said that his partner, Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis, is “half-Indian," adding that the middle name of one of his sons with Zilis is Sekhar, named after Indian-American physicist and Nobel laureate Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.

" I’m not sure if you know this, but my partner Shivon is half Indian," Musk said, adding, “One of my sons with her, his middle name is Sekhar after Chandrasekhar."

Musk also revealed some of Zilis’s ancestral details when Kamath asked about where she grew up. He said that Zilis was given up for adoption as a baby.

“She grew up in Canada. She was given up for adoption when she was a baby. I think her father was like an exchange student at the university or something like that," Musk said, noting that he did not know the full specifics of her early family history.

The revelation about Zilis’s ancestry sparked widespread curiosity online, especially given Musk’s comments about the influence of Indian-origin talent in global technology and science. Kamath, appearing surprised during the exchange, said he had no idea about Zilis’s Indian roots until Musk brought it up.

During the conversation, Kamath also pointed out that many Indians refer to the migration of skilled professionals to the US as “brain drain." Musk responded by praising Indian-origin talent, saying, “The United States has benefited greatly from the talented Indian people who have come over the years."

The conversation then turned to the perception of anti-immigration sentiment in the US. Kamath asked why the narrative around immigration appeared to have shifted. Musk explained that opinions on the matter are divided, saying that under the Biden administration, there had been what he described as “a total free-for-all with like no border controls."

Who Is Shivon Zilis?

Shivon Zilis (38), often known for her leadership role in Neuralink, has a distinguished professional background. She joined Musk’s AI company in 2017 and is currently the Director of Operations and Special Projects. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Philosophy from Yale University.

Before joining Neuralink in 2017, she worked with OpenAI as a board member and advisor and served as a Project Director at Tesla. She has also contributed to institutions such as the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute and the Vector Institute.

Zilis was featured in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 (2015) for venture capital and was later named in LinkedIn’s 35 Under 35 list, reflecting her growing influence in the tech world.

Zilis has four children with Musk, twins, Strider and Azure, daughter Arcadia and son Seldon Lycurgus.

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