Elon Musk Splits From Shivon Zilis—Will She Move Out of His $35M TX Compound?
Elon Musk and Shivon Zilis have abruptly ended their relationship—raising questions about whether the Neuralink executive will continue living in the billionaire’s $35 million Austin, TX, compound with their four children.
Zilis revealed the breakup in an emotional post shared on X on Oct. 2, claiming that the end of their relationship came suddenly and just days after she and Musk had exchanged loving messages.
“It’s hard to go from in love to let go in a week with no warning, but that’s just how it is sometimes,” she wrote.
The 40-year-old, who serves as a director at Musk’s brain-technology company Neuralink, also shared a screenshot of a text exchange that appeared to show just how quickly their relationship changed.
In the Sept. 24 messages, Zilis told Musk that she had enjoyed seeing him for breakfast and expressed her love for him.
Musk responded in kind before telling her that he would have invited her to a dinner involving Chinese President Xi Jinping had he realized significant others were permitted to attend.
Little more than a week later, Zilis publicly confirmed that their relationship had come to an end.
Despite her heartbreak, Zilis made clear that she still cares deeply for Musk and hopes the pair can maintain an amicable relationship as they raise their four young children.
“I’m hurting, but care deeply about E and will always be cheering for his happiness,” she wrote, later adding that she hopes they can remain “great friends and coparents.”
The pair share twins Strider and Azure, who were born in 2021, as well as daughter Arcadia, born in 2024, and son Seldon Lycurgus, whose arrival was announced in February 2025.
But the end of their romance also raises an intriguing real estate question: What will happen to Zilis’ reported living arrangement inside Musk’s sprawling Texas property portfolio?
Zilis has previously been reported to reside with the couple’s children in the gated Austin community that has been linked to Musk’s ambitious plans to create a compound for members of his sprawling family.
Reports about the unusual setup first emerged in October 2024, when the New York Times claimed that Musk had acquired properties worth a combined $35 million in Austin with the goal of bringing several of his children—and some of their mothers—together in neighboring residences.
According to the report, Musk believed having his younger children living close to one another would make it easier for them to develop relationships while also allowing him to divide his time among them.
Musk denied the report about the compound after it emerged. However, subsequent reporting from the Wall Street Journal once again linked the billionaire to the Austin setup, alleging that his longtime money manager, Jared Birchall, had been involved in acquiring property for the project.
That report also claimed that Zilis and her four children with Musk were living in the gated community, while Musk spent time there periodically.
Zilis’ own comments earlier this year offered some insight into the family’s living arrangements. While testifying during Musk’s legal battle with OpenAI, she said that she and Musk lived together while traveling and spent family time together in Austin.
There has been no indication that Zilis plans to leave the Austin community in the wake of their breakup, nor has she publicly addressed whether the split will result in any change to her or her children’s living situation.
The future of the reported compound itself has long been murky.
Musk’s former partner Grimes, with whom he shares three children, was also reportedly asked to relocate to the setup but declined.
Ashley St. Clair, who has said Musk fathered her son Romulus, similarly claimed that the billionaire encouraged her to spend time in Austin.
Musk’s own housing situation has been similarly complicated over the years.
In 2020, the billionaire announced plans to sell off most of his physical possessions and said that he intended to “own no house.”
The following year, he said his primary residence was a relatively modest property near SpaceX’s Texas operations, which he rented from the company.
Reports since then, however, have linked him to a much larger collection of properties in Austin.
Whatever happens with Zilis’ housing arrangement, her breakup announcement suggests that she hopes to preserve a close family relationship with Musk despite the sudden end to their romance.
Zilis described the home life she and their children created with Musk as a source of stability and happiness for the tech mogul amid his demanding professional life.
She also emphasized that, despite the pain of the split, their four children remain the most important result of their years together.
For now, whether the breakup means Zilis will also bid farewell to Musk’s reported Austin compound remains unclear.
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