Elon Musk has welcomed his 12th baby. The tech billionaire had his third child with an executive from his company Neuralink, Shivon Zilis, earlier this year and only recently confirmed the news to Page 6.
But while the news about the child is just out, the 52-year-old told the publication it was far from a “secret” and that issuing a press release would’ve just been “bizarre.”
“As for ‘secretly fathered,’ that is also false,” Musk said. “All our friends and family know. Failure to issue a press release, which would be bizarre, does not mean ‘secret.'”
The name and sex of the new baby have not been revealed yet.
'Not involved romantically'
After the birth of their twins in November 2021, Zilis, 37, had earlier told some of her colleagues that she was not involved romantically with Musk and conceived the children with him through in vitro fertilization (IVF), Reuters reported.
Musk shares three children with Canadian singer Grimes, and five kids with his ex-wife Canadian author Justine Wilson. His first child with Wilson died at just 10 weeks in 2002.
Advocate for booming birth rate
Elon Musk has been a vocal advocate for a booming birthrate and has often said that a "collapsing birth rate is the biggest danger civilization faces".
He has also donated $10 million to a fertility and population research project, Bloomberg reported. Earlier this month he lauded Japan's efforts to increase their birth rate and had in 2002 voiced concern over China's declining population.
Musk said that at the country's current birth rate, China would lose about 40 percent of its people every generation. "Most people still think China has a one-child policy. China had its lowest birthrate ever last year, despite having a three-child policy! At current birth rates, China will lose ~40 percent of people every generation! Population collapse. (sic)," Musk had tweeted in response to a BBC article.
The Tesla CEO had previously said that the narrative that more people are choosing not to have kids because it is harmful to the environment is "total nonsense". He had also shared a report on the decline in fertility rate in the US and said, "US birth rate has been below minmum sustainable levels for 50 years."
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