RFK Jr. has 1 billion reasons to choose Nicole Shanahan as VP—literally

On Tuesday, anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist and family embarrassment Robert F. Kennedy Jr. selected Nicole Shanahan as his running mate in his not-at-all-serious campaign for the presidency. Though this sounds like information that might serve as a stumper at a trivia game for the next eight or so months (after which Kennedy’s whole campaign will take on the same role), the selection may have more impact than it may seem.

While the Associated Press may describe Shanahan as a “California lawyer and philanthropist,” what she really represents is something else. She’s a cash bomb.

Shanahan is the former wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, whose wealth Forbes estimates at $120 billion. In divorce proceedings after just under four years of marriage to Brin, Shanahan reportedly sought over $1 billion from her ex-husband. That might seem like a relatively tiny fraction of Brin’s fortune. After all, Mackenzie Scott walked away with an estimated $38.3 billion in her 2019 divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

But the $1 billion figure seems generous considering that Brin and Shanahan’s marriage fell apart after Shanahan reportedly slept with Elon Musk.