Elon Musk was forced to deny he is in a romantic relationship with Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister after photographs of the pair exchanging a romantic look at a black-tie event in New York went viral this week.
The billionaire, 53, who is a father of 12 children, presented Italy's PM, 47, with the Global Citizen's Award at the Atlantic Council think tank’s Global Citizen Awards dinner on Tuesday.
The Tesla CEO described the task as an "honour" as he praised the prime minister for being "even more beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside."
He added: "She's someone who is authentic, honest, truthful and that can't always be said about politicians."
Aside from his gushing words of affirmation, the Internet picked up on an apparent physical chemistry between the two, after photographs of the pair gazing into each other's eyes at the ritzy gala gained traction online.
Ironically, X was where most chatter about the CEO and Ms Meloni's rumoured relationship took place - the social media platform Elon acquired in 2022 when it was still known as Twitter.
"I am totally shipping these two. Perfect." penned one X user, as another wrote: "Love is in the air!"
A third tweet read: "Find someone who looks at you like Giorgia Meloni looks at Elon Musk," teasing the pair's sweet interaction.
Reciprocating the South African-born billionaire's kind words, Ms Meloni gracefully accepted her award - but her response added even more fuel to the online fire.
"I thank Elon Musk, for the beautiful words that he had for me and for his precious genius for the era in which we live," she said.
It would have been near impossible for Elon to have avoided the barrage of tweets addressing his rumoured romance with the Italian politician. And on Wednesday, he finally responded to a tweet which read: "We all know what happened next…" penned over a photograph of him and Ms Meloni.
"I was there with my mom," Elon posted in response. “There is no romantic relationship whatsoever with PM Meloni."
Elon Musk's relationships
While the SpaceX founder frequently makes headlines for his fast-evolving career, his personal life is often the subject of conversation, too.
The father-of-twelve is believed to have welcomed his twelfth child, whose name and gender is not yet known, earlier this year.
Elon welcomed six children with his first wife, Justine Wilson. The couple welcomed twins, followed by triplets, after undergoing IVF treatment.
In what was arguably the billionaire's most high-profile relationship, Elon also welcomed three children with his ex-girlfriend Grimes. They welcomed their son, X AE A-XII, in 2020, followed by a daughter, Exa Dark Sideræl Musk in 2022.
The tech giant quietly welcomed a third child with Grimes, named Techno Mechanicus, according to Walter Isaacson’s biography “Elon Musk,” published in September 2023.
Elon also shares three children with Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis.