SEX,SLEAZE & SILICON VALLEY

Elon Musk is at the centre of a cheating scandal that has thrown the spotlight on the seedy side of Big Tech

- DENNIS CAVERNELIS

THEY'RE the titans of tech, the men whose ideas have changed the way we live, work, unwind and interact with each other.

Guys like Elon Musk, Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates have become household names, fêted and praised for their genius as they shored up a fortune beyond even their wildest dreams.

But there's another side to the big guns of Silicon Valley - a seedy, misogynistic side where sex, drugs, and hard-partying rule and little else matters but the personal pleasure of the tech gurus.

The latest allegation of shenanigans involves an affair serial headline-maker Elon Musk (51) reportedly had with Nicole Shanahan (33), the wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin. The alleged affair was reported in a recent article in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), which claims the tryst is the reason Sergey and Nicole are getting divorced.

Elon has denied it. "I work crazy hours so there just isn't time for shenanigans," he says.

Nicole has also said it isn't true but the newspaper is sticking by its story, claiming the pair had a fling at Art Basel, a multi-day art event in Miami, in December last year.

Nicole is seeking a $ 1 billion (R16bn) settlement from Sergey, the eighth richest man in the world with a net worth of $95bn (R1,5trillion). The amount is more than she's entitled to under the conditions of her prenuptial agreement, but she's arguing she was forced to sign the prenup under duress while pregnant.

Elon is said to have begged Sergey (48) for forgiveness after he filed for divorce and Sergey apparently accepted his apology. But the WSJ says the two, who were once close friends, are no longer on speaking terms.

Elon has accused the WSJ of a smear campaign and posted a picture of himself and Sergey at a party taken the night before he issued his denial.