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 while she was naked — even as he subjected her to creepy surveillance and humiliating comments at the tech startup they operated together, according to explosive new court documents.
Michelle Ritter, a 31-year-old tech entrepreneur, detailed the allegations in a 70-page filing last week in Los Angeles County Superior Court, claiming Schmidt subjected her to sexual battery, harassment, domestic violence, and violations of computer hacking and wiretapping laws.
The Post broke the story of the bitter legal spat between the two former lovers last month.
The dispute stems from a relationship that began in 2020 and soured into allegations of abuse and corporate betrayal, highlighting the intersection of personal entanglements and high-stakes business in Silicon Valley.
In a bombshell filing last 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, at the Burning Man festival in Nevada, she alleges he 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 into sexual fetishes despite refusals. “
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.
The 31-year-old, who holds a bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University and a JD/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.
She also accuses Schmidt of pressuring her to appear “really hot and sexy” at meetings, urged her to use prescription stimulants for weight loss, and mocked 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.”
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.
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 The Post: 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.”
The relationship ended after photos surfaced in early 2024 of Schmidt with a 22-year-old woman. Post-breakup, Ritter alleges surveillance escalated.
She 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 says.
Ritter alleges Schmidt confessed to creating a “backdoor” to Google servers for accessing anyone’s private information, extending beyond her to targeted employees.
In business dealings, she claims Schmidt invested $100 million in Steel Perlot but used accounting manoeuvres 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 The Post previously reported.
On Nov. 7, 2024, while Ritter dined at Nobu in Malibu, she alleges Schmidt broke into her Tesla and stole her laptop, with CCTV footage from the restaurant.
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.
Schmidt’s attorney, Patricia Glaser, said in a statement: “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 private arbitration in September and stayed the public case. Ritter has cycled through nine lawyers, Schmidt’s filings note.
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.
