Ex-mistress of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt accuses tech titan of rape, creepy surveillance: court docs

By: James F.

The ex-mistress of Eric Schmidt has accused the former Google CEO of rape and spying on her with hidden cameras while she was naked – even as he allegedly subjected her to creepy surveillance and humiliating comments at the tech startup they operated together.

Michelle Ritter, a 31-year-old tech entrepreneur, detailed the allegations in a filing last week in Los Angeles County Superior Court, claiming 70-year-old Schmidt subjected her to sexual battery, harassment, domestic violence, and violations of computer hacking and wiretapping laws.

Last month, Newsair broke the story of the bitter legal spat, which stems from a relationship that began in 2020 and soured with allegations of abuse and corporate betrayal, highlighting the perils of personal entanglements and high-stakes business in Silicon Valley.

In last week’s bombshell filing, Ritter claims that the billionaire tech titan raped her on a yacht in November 2021.

“He followed me into a shower, slammed me against the wall, and forcibly raped me,” Ritter alleged. “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.”

Then, in August 2023, at the Burning Man festival in Nevada, she alleges Schmidt initiated sex while 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 further accuses Schmidt of unwanted voyeurism and pressuring her with sexual fetishes.

“On multiple occasions, Schmidt surreptitiously photographed me without my consent while I was nude, including entering the bathroom to take photographs while I was showering,” she states.

Physical abuse claims include shoving her multiple times, 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 exposed himself to his private jet’s flight crew and transported marijuana on the plane.

She also accuses Schmidt of pressuring her to appear “really hot and sexy” at business meetings, urged her to use prescription stimulants for weight loss — only to later mock her for looking “emaciated.”

In front of colleagues, he allegedly made demeaning comments, including: “You should see her naked,” soliciting remarks on how “sexy” she looked, and saying after she misspoke: “At least she’s good looking.”

Ritter claims Schmidt installed spyware on her computer in November 2021, allowing access to her texts, emails and documents.

“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 filing states.

Ritter alleges Schmidt confessed to creating a “backdoor” to Google servers for accessing anyone’s private information, extending beyond her to targeted employees.

The relationship ended after photos surfaced in early 2024 of Schmidt with a 22-year-old woman, according to court documents. Post-breakup, Ritter alleges the surveillance escalated.

On Nov. 7, 2024, while Ritter dined at Nobu in Malibu, she alleges Schmidt broke into her Tesla and stole her laptop – and claimed he was caught by the swanky sushi restaurant’s CCTV footage.

Schmidt’s lawyer and ex-Harvey Weinstein attorney, Patricia Glaser, said: “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, told: “A billionaire tech titan, the powerful former head of Google, took advantage of and abused a brilliant young woman, for his personal satisfaction, to deprive her of all the hard and highly valuable work she did while they were together, because she dumped him. This lawsuit is to get her justice.”

Schmidt, then 65 and retired from Google with a net worth of $48.3 billion, was married but reportedly in an open relationship with his wife of 45 years, Wendy Schmidt.

Ritter, who holds a bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University and a law degree and MBA from Columbia University, met Schmidt, a major Democrat donor, in September 2020 through a business contact.

At the time, she was 26 and pitching StarX Networks, a company that allowed fans to invest in athletes’ performance.

Together, they launched Steel Perlot, a startup incubator that helped launch companies such as Keeta, a payment network now valued at $161 million.

Ritter even claims she helped edit Schmidt’s book with Henry Kissinger, advised on a Biden administration appointment, drafted Senate testimony, and influenced his bid for the Washington Commanders NFL team.

In business dealings, she claims Schmidt invested $100 million in Steel Perlot but used accounting maneuvers to burden it with debt. She was ousted as CEO of Knox, another firm, and stripped of control over shared companies.

Further allegations include forging her signature on documents, inserting fake texts into her phone, and locking her out of their shared residence in April 2024, leaving her belongings inside.

That summer, Ritter claims Schmidt installed hidden cameras and listening devices in her Los Angeles home.

Private investigators allegedly tailed her parents, admitting to police they worked for a “billionaire’s private security detail, as reported.

Ritter filed for a temporary restraining order last December but retracted some claims a week later, which she now says was under pressure from Schmidt’s lawyers.

The case began in September with sealed or redacted filings.

Last week’s proposed amended complaint, which was first downloaded by the Daily Mail, seeks to make allegations public, citing a 2021 law against arbitrating sex abuse claims. Schmidt argues the law doesn’t apply retroactively.

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 agreement by refusing to vacate a Beverly Hills mansion, stealing $1.1 million in property and leaking information to the media.

Judge Michael Small ordered private arbitration in September and stayed the public case. Ritter has cycled through as many as ten lawyers, Schmidt’s filings claim.

Schmidt has been described as Silicon Valley’s “Casanova” after years of flaunting much younger girlfriends and has spoken openly about how AI could ruin dating for men.

Schmidt, Google’s CEO from 2001 to 2011, has been linked to other younger women, including fashion designer Shoshanna Gruss, former Olympic skater Alexandra Duisberg. socialite Ulla Parker, and former CNBC correspondent Kate Bohner.