Inside RFK Jr. Running Mate Nicole Shanahan's Love Life

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s team apparently didn't look too deeply into his running mate Nicole Shanahan's controversial past, as insiders informed The New York Times. Even her estimated billion-dollar net worth didn't ring any alarm bells for them. Thankfully, the outlet had a plausible explanation for the majority of Shanahan's wealth: Her marriage to Google co-founder and multi-billionaire Sergey Brin. Speaking to People in 2023, Shanahan recalled that she initially ran into Brin at a yoga festival in 2014. According to the Times' sources, their first meeting occurred in the month leading up to Shanahan's nuptials to Jeremy Kranz, whom she had been dating since 2011. They further alleged that she and Brin struck up a romance shortly before Shanahan walked down the aisle in August 2014. 

The investor learned of his new bride's infidelity just a few days into their marriage after reading text exchanges between the pair. Court records obtained by the Times confirmed that Kranz filed to end their union after a little under a month of marriage. According to their divorce settlement terms, Shanahan had to shell out a massive $20,000 to Kranz to cover some wedding expenses and his legal fees. Interestingly, in Shanahan's recollection of events to People, she claimed that she only started dating Brin in 2015. Despite their supposedly controversial start, Brin and Shanahan were wed in 2018. The couple welcomed their first and only child, daughter Echo, later that year after facing infertility. Alas, their marriage wasn't built to last either and also reportedly ended due to infidelity. 

Nicole Shanahan confessed to People that she didn't feel fulfilled in her marriage to Sergey Brin, one of the richest men on the planet. "I felt conflicted every day, like I couldn't access the thing that made me what I am," she admitted before reflecting on her childhood self, acknowledging, "I couldn't access that 5-year-old girl who had to figure out how to turn a 30-year-old baseball mitt into something I could go to softball practice with." It's worth noting that several sources alleged to the New York Times that the vice presidential hopeful attended many high-profile parties throughout her marriage to Brin, where Shanahan frequently took a variety of drugs and mingled with some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley. Despite her internal grapples, she stayed by Brin's side until January 2022, when he filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences.

Then, in July, sources divulged to The Wall Street Journal that their nearly 5-year marriage ended because Shanahan cheated on the Google co-founder with another famous billionaire: Elon Musk. In her People interview, Shanahan denied ever having an affair with the Tesla founder. She clarified that her conversations with the billionaire primarily revolved around her daughter Echo's autism treatment. Even Musk himself took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to dispel the rumors by noting that he had only made Shanahan's acquaintance a few times, and always in public settings. Moreover, he hung out with Brin the night before.

Nicole Shanahan and Sergey Brin finalized their divorce in May 2023, with her settlement nettingShanahan north of a billion dollars. RFK Jr.'s running mate later told People that she met Jacob Strumwasser through mutual friends when Shanahan attended the Burning Man Festival in 2022. While the pair enjoyed a platonic coffee date, she realized he wasn't aware of her controversial past, gushing, "We saw each other in a silo of our own experience with one another and nothing else." They made things official through a traditional love ceremony in May 2023. Shanahan subsequently disclosed to People that their nuptials were a rather impromptu event that only included the attendance of her nearest and dearest. The special day started at the beach, with the attorney explaining, "We fell in love surfing there, and we did a love blessing ceremony with water we collected from that beach." 

Then, they headed over to Shanahan's home in California to continue the celebrations. During a 2024 appearance on the "Sage Steele Podcast" the vice presidential hopeful admitted that while she was a massive supporter of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s and even sponsored his controversial Super Bowl commercial, she originally wasn't being actively considered for the position. However, Shanahan became a frontrunner when Strumwasser suggested her for the role while they were having dinner with RFK Jr. and his own wife, Cheryl Hines. The two couples have since taken the stage at several promotional events together, solidifying their united position behind RFK Jr.