Tipsheet

The 'Political Attacks' Against Musk Keep Coming

Back in May, billionaire Elon Musk predicted the attacks on him would escalate and he’s been proven right once again.

The Tesla CEO on Sunday pushed back on reports that alleged he had an affair with Google co-founder Sergey Brin’s wife on Sunday, calling the news “total bs.”

Elon Musk engaged in a brief affair last fall with the wife of Sergey Brin, prompting the Google co-founder to file for divorce earlier this year and ending the tech billionaires’ long friendship, according to people familiar with the matter.

Their falling out is one of a string of personal issues Mr. Musk has faced even as he juggles business challenges, including manufacturing disruptions at Tesla Inc. TSLA 0.20%? and a court fight over his desire to withdraw his $44 billion bid for Twitter Inc.

Mr. Musk is the richest person in the world, with an estimated fortune of $240 billion, and Mr. Brin ranks eighth world-wide, with $95 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Messrs. Brin and Musk, among the nation’s most famous entrepreneurs, were longtime friends. Mr. Musk has said that for years he regularly crashed at Mr. Brin’s house in Silicon Valley. […]

In recent months, there has been growing tension between the two men and their teams, according to the people familiar with the matter. Mr. Brin has ordered his financial advisers to sell his personal investments in Mr. Musk’s companies, some of those people said. It couldn’t be learned how large those investments are, or whether there have been any sales. (Wall Street Journal)

"This is total bs," Musk said on Twitter. "Sergey and I are friends and were at a party together last night! I’ve only seen Nicole twice in three years, both times with many other people around. Nothing romantic."

Musk has previously fought back against sexual harassment allegations by a former SpaceX flight attendant, which he called "utterly untrue."

The increase in attacks against Musk have come after he purchased Twitter, though he's now in a court fight to withdraw from the deal.