Tech

Google co-founder Sergey Brin finalized divorce from Nicole Shanahan amid Elon Musk affair rumors

Google co-founder Sergey Brin quietly finalized his divorce from Nicole Shanahan almost a year after rumors swirled that she had an affair with his good buddy Elon Musk.

A Santa Clara County Superior Court judge signed off on the divorce on May 26, according to court records obtained by the news site Insider.

The 50-year-old Brin filed for divorce from Shanahan in January 2022 — about a month after his wife allegedly hooked up with Musk — citing “irreconcilable differences,” Insider reported.

Brin — the ninth richest person in the world with a net worth estimated by Bloomberg Billionaires Index to be $118 billion — and Shanahan married in 2018, three years after they first met at a yoga retreat, according to court records.

They have a 4-year-old daughter.

The two signed a prenuptial agreement which stipulated that in the event of a divorce they would settle matters such as spousal support in confidential arbitration, Insider reported.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin (right) finalized his divorce from his wife of four years, Nicole Shanahan, in May, according to a new report. Getty Images

Brin and Shanahan, who will share legal and physical custody of their daughter, agreed to “non-guideline” child support, but court papers do not specify the exact dollar amount, according to Insider.

In California and other states, “guideline” child support is determined by factoring the disparity of income between the parents as well as the disparity of timeshare — or how many hours a parent spends with the child.

Shanahan, a lawyer who works for the Bay Area nonprofit Bia-Echo Foundation, did not contest the divorce, though she did ask the court for spousal support, according to Insider.

Shanahan and Brin settled issues including spousal support, lawyer fees, and division of assets in confidential arbitration, the court records revealed.

Shanahan and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have denied a report that their affair sparked the divorce from Brin. AFP via Getty Images
The divorced couple agreed to share legal and physical custody of their four-year-old daughter. MediaNews Group via Getty Images

The Post has sought comment from Brin and Shanahan.

The Wall Street Journal reported in July 2022 that Brin’s friendship with Musk was ruptured after he learned that the Tesla CEO slept with his wife in December 2021.

Both Musk and Shanahan denied the affair.

According to the Journal, Musk begged Brin for forgiveness.

Brin was said to have been so angry that he sold off his Tesla shares — which were reportedly worth $100 million at the time.

Musk has tried to squash rumors of any feud with Brin. Last summer, he provided to The Post a selfie showing the two at a birthday party that was held in the home of a Bay Area venture capitalist friend.

After reports of an alleged affair surfaced, Musk last year took a selfie showing him and Brin at a Bay Area birthday party.
Shanahan is an attorney and founder of a Bay Area nonprofit. She and Brin met at a yoga retreat in 2015. Drew Altizer Photography/Shutterstock

According to Musk’s biographer Walter Isaacson, Brin made an attempt to move away from the frame so that he would not be photographed in the selfie.

Isaacson did not elaborate as to why Brin sought to avoid the selfie, and Brin has not commented on either the selfie or the alleged affair.