People often talk about the rockets, the electric cars, and the controversial tweets, but there is a quieter, much more painful part of the Musk story that usually stays in the shadows. It’s about a baby boy named Nevada. Specifically, Nevada Alexander Musk.
If you look at the headlines today, you’ll see news about his massive family—14 children as of 2026—but Nevada was the first. He was the beginning. And then, in a flash, he was gone.
Honestly, it's the kind of tragedy that most people can't even wrap their heads around. One minute you're a new parent, and the next, your world is unrecognizable.
The Morning Everything Changed
It was 2002. Elon Musk had just sold PayPal to eBay and was essentially becoming the "Iron Man" figure we know today. He was married to his first wife, Canadian author Justine Wilson. They had a ten-week-old son, Nevada.
He was a healthy baby. By all accounts, everything was going right.
Then came a morning in their home in Orange County. Justine went in to check on him, and the nightmare began. Nevada had gone down for a nap, placed on his back—just like doctors tell you to do—but he simply stopped breathing.
By the time the paramedics got there and managed to restart his heart, it had been too long. His brain had been deprived of oxygen for an eternity in "emergency time." He was brain-dead.
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Nevada spent three days on life support. Imagine that for a second. Three days of holding onto a hope that is physically impossible. Eventually, they had to make the decision no parent should ever face. Justine held him in her arms as he passed away.
What Exactly is SIDS?
The official cause was Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
Kinda a terrifying term, right? It's basically a medical "we don't know." SIDS is the unexplained death of a seemingly healthy baby, usually under a year old, and usually during sleep. Even in 2026, while research has come a long way, it remains one of those things that keeps every new parent up at night.
Recent studies—like some big ones out of UVA Health in 2025—have started looking at blood biomarkers, specifically things called sphingomyelins, which are fats critical for brain and lung development. They think some babies might just be born with a biological vulnerability that makes it harder for them to "wake up" if their breathing gets obstructed or their CO2 levels get too high.
Back in 2002, though? It was just a black hole of "why?"
A Split in How They Grieved
This is where the story gets really human and, frankly, pretty sad.
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Elon and Justine handled the loss in completely opposite ways. According to Walter Isaacson’s biography and Justine’s own writings, Elon went into "survival mode." He shut down. He didn't want to talk about it. He viewed grief as something that wasn't "useful," so he buried it under work and the launch of SpaceX.
Justine, on the other hand, was an open wound. She wanted to talk, to scream, to process.
"Elon was obsessed with his work... I longed for deep and heartfelt conversations, for intimacy and empathy." — Justine Wilson (Marie Claire, 2010).
Less than two months after Nevada died, they were already at an IVF clinic. They wanted to fill the silence in the house as fast as they could. Within the next few years, they had twins and then triplets. But that original crack in their relationship? It never really healed.
The Long-Term Impact on the Musk Legacy
You can actually trace a lot of Elon’s current obsessions back to this kind of trauma.
When he talks about the "existential risks" to humanity, or why he’s so hell-bent on making life multi-planetary, there’s a sense of fragility there. He knows better than anyone that things can be taken away in an instant.
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Some people speculate that his drive to have a large family (again, 14 kids and counting) is a direct psychological reaction to losing his firstborn. Whether it's with Justine, Grimes, or Shivon Zilis, he’s clearly building a "dynasty."
But Nevada Alexander Musk was the one who started it all. He's the reason Elon pushed for IVF for his subsequent children, wanting that extra layer of medical control and "certainty" in a world that had already proven to be wildly uncertain.
Practical Insights for Parents
If you're reading this because you're worried about your own little one, there are actual, actionable things that have been proven to lower the risk of SIDS significantly:
- Always use the "Back to Sleep" method. It’s the single most effective thing you can do.
- Keep the crib boring. No bumpers, no pillows, no stuffed animals. Just a firm mattress and a fitted sheet.
- Keep it cool. Overheating is a huge risk factor. If you’re comfortable in a t-shirt, the baby is usually fine in a sleep sack.
- Room-sharing, not bed-sharing. Having the baby in your room for the first six months reduces risk, but sleeping in the same bed actually increases it.
The story of Nevada is a heavy one. It’s a reminder that no amount of money or "changing the world" protects you from the basic, brutal realities of being human.
Next steps for you: If you want to dive deeper into the science of infant safety, check out the latest Safe to Sleep guidelines from the NIH or look into the UVA Health SIDS biomarker research to see how screening might change in the next couple of years.