- Elon Musk denied racism claims, citing his partner's Indian heritage and their son's name
- Musk's partner Shivon Zilis is half-Indian and used to hold a senior role at his company Neuralink
- He emphasised having senior executives of all races in his companies to refute racism allegations
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk was confronted about being "racist" in an interview with The Economist, claims which he rejected, saying that his partner is half-Indian and one of the four children they have together is named after the famous Indian physicist.
When the host told Musk, "People say that you're a racist," the billionaire said, "My partner is half-Indian. I have four children with her; one of them was named after a famous Indian physicist."
Musk's partner, Shivon Zilis, is half-Indian and grew up in Canada. The middle name of one of his sons with Zilis is Sekhar, named after Indian-American physicist and Nobel laureate Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.
Zilis joined Musk's AI company, Neuralink, in 2017 and is currently the director of operations and special projects.
He further stated that his companies have senior executives "of all races".
"I'm Not A Racist": Elon Musk
"So I would say I'm not a racist. If you look at people that are employed at my companies, we have senior executives of all races. I don't think there is any racism there," Musk said.
Musk spoke about his involvement in the Trump administration as the chief of the Department of Government Efficiency, where he aimed to dismantle government bureaucracy, cut wasteful expenditures, and modernise federal technology.
"I got carried away, frankly," he said and added, "I think instead of doing Doge, I would have basically worked on my companies."
Answering if he was "anti-Muslim", Musk said, "If people are coming to a country with antithetical views, I am against that. I'm against rape and murder. I'm against the imposition of rules and laws that are contrary to what we've come to accept in the West."
Musk Calls Nolan An Anti-White Racist
Recently, Musk called director Christopher Nolan an "anti-White racist" and accused him of losing his integrity due to the diverse casting choices in Nolan's 2026 epic blockbuster film, The Odyssey.
The feud escalated over several months through a series of public attacks by Musk on his social media platform, X.
The primary spark was Nolan casting Black Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong'o as Helen of Troy (and her half-sister Clytemnestra). Musk responded to a user pointing out that Homer's original text describes Helen as "fair-skinned" and "blonde", claiming that Nolan had "lost his integrity" and was "pissing on Homer's grave".
Musk escalated the feud by vowing that his xAI video tool, Grok Imagine, will generate a full-length, "historically accurate" film adaptation of The Odyssey by the end of the year.
