‘My partner Shivon is half Indian’: Elon Musk says son named after Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has revealed that one of his sons carries the middle name “Sekhar” as a tribute to legendary Indian-American astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.

Speaking on Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath’s podcast People by WTF, Musk said the name was chosen to honour the 1983 Nobel Prize winner.

Musk also disclosed that his partner and Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis has Indian roots. "I'm not sure if you know this, but my partner Shivon is half Indian… One of my sons with her, his middle name is Sekhar after Chandrasekhar."

Chandrasekhar, celebrated for his pioneering theoretical work on stellar evolution, remains one of the most influential astrophysicists of the 20th century.

When asked whether Zilis had ever lived in India, Musk clarified that her connection is ancestral. "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," he said.

Musk and Zilis are parents to twins Strider and Azure, born in 2021. Their daughter Arcadia was born in 2024, and Zilis later confirmed the birth of a fourth child, Seldon Lycurgus.

During the conversation, Musk also spoke about immigration and the role of Indian talent in the United States. "I think America has benefited immensely from talented Indians who have come to America. I mean, America's been an immense beneficiary of talent from India," he said.

Musk criticised what he described as weak border controls under the Biden administration, calling for more balanced policies.

"I think there are different schools of thought. It's not unanimous, but under the Biden administration, it was basically a total free-for-all with like no border controls. Unless you've got border controls. So you had massive amounts of illegal immigration under Biden, and actually, it also had like somewhat of a negative selection effect," he said.