At 49, Branden Spikes is not merely one of the senior technologists involved in Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Serving as the current IT director at X/Twitter and having been an early recruit at PayPal, Zip2, Tesla, and SpaceX, Spikes is also among Musk’s most devoted staff members. Here’s an in-depth look at this dependable Musk associate, whose Russian ex-wife had previously been married to Elon’s relative.

When President Trump resumed his term in January, he appointed the wealthiest individual in the world — Elon Musk — as the leader of the U.S. Digital Service, renaming the agency to DOGE. Reports suggest that the team consists of at least 50 technologists, many of whom have connections to Musk’s enterprises.

DOGE has been facilitating the president’s ongoing widespread layoffs and dismissals of federal personnel, primarily by taking command over IT systems and governmental data across various federal organizations, including the Social Security Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, the Office of Personnel Management, and the Treasury Department.

Identifying another individual linked to DOGE with deeper connections to Musk than Branden Spikes is quite challenging. A California native, Spikes first collaborated with Musk in 1997 as a lead systems engineer for the software firm Zip2, Musk’s initial major project. In 1999, Spikes was appointed as the IT director at PayPal, and by 2002, he had become only the fourth hire at SpaceX.

In 2012, Spikes founded Spikes Security, a software initiative aimed at developing a compartmentalized or “sandboxed” web browser designed to protect users against malware threats. A historical examination of spikes.com via the Wayback Machine reveals that as early as 1998, Musk was seen partaking in online team matches with Spikes in the games Quake and Quake II. In 2016, Spikes Security merged with another security solution provider, Aurionpro, and the resultant entity was rebranded as Cyberinc.

According to Spikes’s LinkedIn profile, he was appointed as the head of IT at X in February 2025. While his name does not appear on any of the lists of DOGE personnel disseminated by various news outlets, several sources informed KrebsOnSecurity that Spikes is engaged with DOGE and functions within Musk’s trusted inner circle.

In an interview with KrebsOnSecurity, Spikes expressed his commitment to his nation and to safeguarding it from perceived impending disaster.

“I grew up in a conservative Southern family in California and hold a strong belief in America and its future,” Spikes remarked. “This is why I volunteered for two months in DC recently to assist DOGE in averting our certain bankruptcy.”

Spikes informed KrebsOnSecurity that he has recently chosen to return home and concentrate on his role as the IT director at X.

“I enjoyed it immensely, but ultimately I did not wish to abandon my hometown and family back in California,” Spikes recalled of his time at DOGE. “After a couple of months, it became evident that in order to continue being effective, I would need to relocate to DC and dedicate significantly more time, so I graciously stepped back.”

Before establishing Spikes Security, Branden Spikes was wed to a native Russian woman named Natalia, whom he met at a destination wedding in South America in 2003.

Both Branden and Natalia’s names appear on the registration documents for the domain name orangetearoom[.]com. This domain, initially registered by Branden in 2009 according to DomainTools.com, serves as the online presence of a tax-exempt charity based in Los Angeles called the California Russian Association.

Presented here is a photograph from a 2011 gathering hosted by the California Russian Association, featuring Branden and Natalia at one of its “White Nights” charity events:

The Spikes couple divorced in 2011, after which Natalia adopted the surname Haldeman. This is not her birth name, which appears to be “Libina.” Instead, Natalia acquired the Haldeman surname in 1998, when she married Elon Musk’s cousin.

Reeve Haldeman is the offspring of Scott Haldeman, who is the brother of Elon Musk’s mother, Maye Musk. Divorce documents indicate that Reeve and Natalia officially dissolved their marriage in 2007. Reeve Haldeman did not reply to a request for comment.

An examination of additional domain names linked to Natalia Haldeman’s email address shows she has registered over a dozen domains over the years associated with the California Russian Association, along with a seemingly related organization called the Russian Heritage Foundation, Inc.:

russianamericans.org
russianamericanstoday.com
russianamericanstoday.org
russiancalifornia.org
russianheritagefoundation.com
russianheritagefoundation.org
russianwhitenights.com
russianwhitenights.org
theforafoundation.org
thegoldentearoom.com
therussianheritagefoundation.org
tsarinahome.com

Ms. Haldeman did not respond to inquiries for comment. Her name and contact details are documented in the registration records for these domains dating back to 2010, and a document published by ProPublica indicates that by 2016, Natalia Haldeman had been appointed as CEO of the California Russian Foundation.

Thedomain name that combines both Branden’s and Natalia’s identities — orangeteamroom.com — showcases pictures of Ms. Haldeman at fundraising gatherings for the Russian foundation up to 2014. More images of her alongside many of the same individuals can be found through 2023 at another site she registered in 2010 — russianheritagefoundation.com.

The photograph of Branden and Natalia displayed above is from one such gathering in 2011 (connected to russianwhitenights.org, another domain associated with Haldeman). The individual on the right in that picture — Ivan Y. Podvalov — appears in numerous fundraising event pictures published by the foundation over the last decade. Podvalov serves as a board member of the Congress of Russian Americans (CRA), a nonprofit organization recognized for its strong opposition to U.S. financial and legal sanctions against Russia.

In an article for The Insider in 2022, journalist Diana Fishman detailed the CRA’s involvement in direct political lobbying, highlighting that the organization, in June 2014, sent a letter to President Obama and the UN Secretary, urging the cessation of the “extensive US intervention in Ukraine and the effort to isolate Russia.”

“The U.S. military units must be withdrawn immediately from the Eastern European region, and NATO’s expansion efforts and provocative actions against Russia must come to a halt,” the correspondence stated.

The Insider reported that the CRA director dispatched another two letters to President Donald Trump in 2017 and 2018.

“One was a plea not to endorse a law that would expand sanctions against Russia,” Fishman noted. “The other expressed regret over the expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats from the United States and cautioned against jumping to conclusions regarding Moscow’s role in the poisoning of Sergei Skripal.”

The nonprofit monitoring website CauseIQ.com indicates that The Russian Heritage Foundation, Inc. is now recognized as Constellation of Humanity.

The Russian Heritage Foundation and the California Russian Association both advocate for the interests of the Russian Orthodox Church. This link archived by Archive.org from russiancalifornia.org shows The California Russian Foundation facilitated a community initiative to establish an Orthodox church in Orange County, California.

A press announcement from the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) indicates that in 2021 the Russian Heritage Foundation contributed funds to organize a conference for the Russian Orthodox Church in Serbia.

An examination of the “Partners” featured on the Spikes’ jointly registered domain — orangetearoom.com — reveals that the organization collaborated with a marketing firm named Russian American Media. Investigations by KrebsOnSecurity last year demonstrated that Russian American Media also partners with the controversial people-search platform Radaris, established by two Russian brothers in Massachusetts who have developed a network of consumer data brokers and Russian affiliate programs.

When questioned about his former wife’s background, Spikes remarked that she possesses a good heart and holds no animosity toward anyone.

“I attended numerous of Natalia’s social events during the years we were together and can assure you that she has the best intentions with those,” Spikes conveyed to KrebsOnSecurity. “There’s nothing suspicious taking place. It is merely a means for those friendly immigrants to connect and find resources amongst themselves to help settle in and pursue the American dream. They’re not unlike immigrants from various countries who arrive in America seeking to connect and assist each other in finding individuals who share their language and contribute to building their businesses here in America.”

Spikes mentioned that his own family lineage traces deeply into American history, revealing that his 6th great grandfather was Alexander Hamilton on his mother’s side, and Jesse James on his father’s side.

“My family heritage is as American as it gets,” he commented. “I have also been entrusted with establishing and safeguarding Elon’s companies since 1999 and have a discerning eye (just like you) for undesirable individuals, so I have enough perspective to affirm that Natalia stands without malice and that she cherishes America.”

Undoubtedly, this viewpoint comes from someone who holds the utmost esteem for the interests of the “special government employee” Mr. Musk, who has been boasting about throwing entire federal agencies into the “wood chipper,” and who recently brandished an actual chainsaw on stage while referring to it as the “chainsaw for bureaucracy.”

“Elon’s motives are genuine, and you can place your trust in him,” Spikes assured.

A special note of gratitude for research support goes to Jacqueline Sweet, an independent investigative journalist whose contributions have been featured in The Guardian, Rolling Stone, POLITICO, and The Intercept.