Ex-mistress of ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt accuses – Business News
The ex-mistress of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has accused the 70-year-old tech titan of rape and spying on her with hidden cameras whereas she was bare — at the same time as he subjected her to creepy surveillance and humiliating feedback on the tech startup they operated collectively, in response to explosive new courtroom paperwork.
Michelle Ritter, a 31-year-old tech entrepreneur, detailed the allegations in a 70-page submitting final week in Los Angeles County Superior Court, claiming Schmidt subjected her to sexual battery, harassment, home violence, and violations of laptop hacking and wiretapping legal guidelines.
The Post broke the story of the bitter legal spat between the 2 former lovers final month.
The dispute stems from a relationship that started in 2020 and soured into allegations of abuse and company betrayal, highlighting the intersection of personal entanglements and high-stakes business in Silicon Valley.
Ritter, 31, met Eric Schmidt in 2020 and commenced courting shortly after. But in courtroom paperwork revealed in Los Angeles final week, she makes the stunning declare that she was raped by the previous Google CEO. Instagram
In a bombshell submitting final week, Ritter claims that the billionaire tech titan accosted her on a yacht in November 2021.
“He followed me into a shower, slammed me against the wall, and forcibly raped me. I begged him to stop and cried out that he was hurting me, but he ignored my pleas. The next morning, Schmidt attempted to convince me that I enjoyed the assault,” she wrote.
Then, in August 2023, on the Burning Man pageant in Nevada, she alleges he initiated intercourse whereas she slept.
“I clearly told him ‘no’ and tried to get him to stop, but I had learned that attempting to resist physically would be futile and make things worse,” her declaration reads.
Ritter additional accuses Schmidt of undesirable voyeurism and pressuring her into sexual fetishes regardless of refusals. “
On a number of events, Schmidt surreptitiously photographed me with out my consent whereas I used to be nude, together with getting into the toilet to take images whereas I used to be showering,” she states.
Physical abuse claims embrace shoving her a number of instances, leaving bruises and scratches, and intimidating her by screaming inches from her face. In one New York incident, he allegedly pushed her into a desk.
Ritter describes Schmidt as “erratic,” alleging he undressed and uncovered himself to his personal jet’s flight crew and transported marijuana on the airplane.
The 31-year-old, who holds a bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University and a JD/MBA from Columbia University, met Schmidt, a main Democrat donor, in September 2020 by a business contact.
Forbes estimates that Schmidt, now 70, is value simply over $36 billion. Ritter alleges he made quite a few lewd feedback about her weight during their relationship. Getty Images for SmartContract
At the time, she was 26 and pitching StarX Networks, a company that allowed followers to invest in athletes’ efficiency.
Together, they launched Steel Perlot, a startup incubator that helped launch firms similar to Keeta, a fee community now valued at $161 million.
Ritter even claims she helped edit Schmidt’s ebook with Henry Kissinger, suggested on a Biden administration appointment, drafted Senate testimony, and influenced his bid for the Washington Commanders NFL staff.
She additionally accuses Schmidt of pressuring her to seem “really hot and sexy” at conferences, urged her to make use of prescription stimulants for weight loss, and mocked her for wanting “emaciated
In entrance of colleagues, he allegedly made demeaning feedback, together with: “You should see her naked,” soliciting remarks on how “sexy” she appeared, and saying after she misspoke: “At least she’s good looking.”
Schmidt and his spouse, Wendy, are reportedly in an open marriage and are mentioned to steer very separate lives Marc Patrick/BFA.com/Shutterstock
Schmidt, then 65 and retired from Google with a web value of $48.3 billion, was married however reportedly in an open relationship along with his spouse of 45 years, Wendy Schmidt.
Schmidt’s lawyer and ex-Harvey Weinstein legal professional, Patricia Glaser, mentioned: “This is the latest desperate and destructive effort to publish false and defamatory statements – which are directly contradicted by her own words – to distract attention and escape accountability from a longstanding business dispute.”
Skip Miller, a lawyer representing Ritter, informed The Post: A billionaire tech titan, the highly effective former head of Google, took benefit of and abused a sensible younger lady, for his personal satisfaction, to deprive her of all of the onerous and extremely useful work she did whereas they have been collectively, as a result of she dumped him. This lawsuit is to get her justice.”
The relationship ended after photographs surfaced in early 2024 of Schmidt with a 22-year-old lady. Post-breakup, Ritter alleges surveillance escalated.
She claims Schmidt put in spy ware on her laptop in November 2021, permitting entry to her texts, emails and paperwork.
Ritter, a Columbia graduate, mentioned that Schmidt ploughed $100 million into her Steel Perlot start-up. Sources close to the previous Google CEO don’t dispute that determine. Instagram
“On various occasions, Ritter would be using her email account or Google Workspace and saw emails and documents being deleted or altered as if someone else were controlling her keystrokes,” the submitting says.
Ritter alleges Schmidt confessed to creating a “backdoor” to Google servers for accessing anybody’s personal info, extending past her to focused workers.
In business dealings, she claims Schmidt invested $100 million in Steel Perlot however used accounting manoeuvres to burden it with debt. She was ousted as CEO of Knox, one other firm, and stripped of control over shared firms.
Further allegations embrace forging her signature on paperwork, inserting faux texts into her cellphone, and locking her out of their shared residence in April 2024, leaving her belongings inside.
That summer time, Ritter claims Schmidt put in hidden cameras and listening gadgets in her Los Angeles home.
Private investigators allegedly tailed her dad and mom, admitting to police they labored for a “billionaire’s personal security element, as The Post beforehand reported.
On Nov. 7, 2024, whereas Ritter dined at Nobu in Malibu, she alleges Schmidt broke into her Tesla and stole her laptop computer, with CCTV footage from the restaurant.
Ritter filed for a momentary restraining order final December however retracted some claims a week later, which she now says was underneath strain from Schmidt’s legal professionals.
The case started in September with sealed or redacted filings.
Last week’s proposed amended criticism, which was first downloaded by the Daily Mail, seeks to make allegations public, citing a 2021 law towards arbitrating intercourse abuse claims. Schmidt argues the law doesn’t apply retroactively.
Ritter and Schmidt have been final seen publicly collectively in April 2023, some 18 months after she alleges that he first assaulted her. Diggzy/Jesal / SplashNews.com
In his response, Schmidt claims the dispute arose from Ritter’s “mismanagement” of their company and accuses her of “compulsive lying” to gain leverage and “extort” him.
He alleges she broke their settlement by refusing to vacate a Beverly Hills mansion, stealing $1.1 million in property and leaking info to the media.
Schmidt’s legal professional, Patricia Glaser, mentioned in a assertion: “We are confident that we will prevail on both this specific legal issue and disproving these pathetic, false and defamatory statements.”
Judge Michael Small ordered personal arbitration in September and stayed the public case. Ritter has cycled by 9 legal professionals, Schmidt’s filings observe.
Schmidt has been described as Silicon Valley’s “Casanova” after years of flaunting a lot youthful girlfriends and has spoken brazenly about how AI may wreck courting for males.
Schmidt, Google’s CEO from 2001 to 2011, has been linked to different youthful girls, together with fashion designer Shoshanna Gruss, former Olympic skater Alexandra Duisberg. socialite Ulla Parker, and former CNBC correspondent Kate Bohner.
