Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has hit back at serious allegations his ex-mistress and tech entrepreneur Michelle Ritter levelled against him in a formal filing last week, according to the Daily Mail.
Reviewing court documents, the UK news outlet spilled that 31-year-old Michelle accused the 70-year-old ex-Google boss of being a manipulative abuser. She alleged in documents, which went public in a Los Angeles court last week, that her former business partner had subjected her to sexual battery and harassment, domestic violence and violating computer hacking and wiretapping laws.
Back in December 2024, Ritter had raised allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct in a Domestic Violence Restraining Order application. The UK outlet reported she ultimately rescinded, revoked, retracted, and denied” in a joint filing with her former partner a week later. While Schmidt counter-accuses her of lying, Ritter claims in her new documents that she was pressured by Eric’s lawyers to follow through.
Michelle Ritter vs Eric Schmidt: Ex-Google CEO denies rape allegations
The Daily Mail reported this week that Schmidt has, in turn, accused Ritter of fabricating allegations. On his part, the former Google CEO suggested in the legal papers viewed by the international news outlet that Michelle has previously refuted those very claims under oath so that a confidential settlement involving the companies they once shared could be hashed out.
Schmidt reportedly even has chats to back his defence. While the billionaire has branded Ritter a “liar,” his lawyer has slammed her allegations as “false and defamatory,” calling them “fabricated” and “pathetic,” as per the Daily Mail.
Schmidt’s lawyers accused Ritter of “compulsive lying” in a docket response viewed by the outlet, adding they have “text messages conclusively disproving the claims.” The said chats were not attached in the filing.
The former Google CEO further alleged in the response that they were disputing due to “‘Ritter’s mismanagement” of their company. Suggesting that Michelle was seeking to “extort” him, the billionaire claimed, “Ritter fabricated numerous false claims against Schmidt, including her fictional assault claims, in an attempt to gain negotiating leverage.”
How Eric Schmidt and Michelle Ritter met
Ritter is said to have met Schmidt, who is still married to his wife Wendy, through a business contact. International reports suggest that Michelle, Eric and the common link first sat down together in September 2020. At the time, they had dinner, as she pitched the idea of a company called StarX Networks.
Back then, Ritter, a Columbia student, was 26 years old. On the other hand, Eric Schmidt was 65 and had recently retired from Google.
According to her legal filing cited by international media, Ritter said she initially turned down Schmidt’s advances, leading him to take on the roles of “mentor and potential investor.” Her formal complaint reportedly noted, the Google exec “jet-setted with her around the world, introduced her to diplomats and prominent industry figures.”
Ritter then confessed to have given in and “only allowed herself to fall in love with Schmidt because he repeatedly assured her that his marriage was over and that he and his wife were separated,” as per her legal filing cited in US reports.
Michelle Ritter accused Eric Schmidt of raping her
Both of them went on to build a startup called Steel Perlot together. Ritter furher claimed that their relationship and partnership took a hit when Eric started demonstrating “a pattern of coercive control and abuse.”
In her legal complaint, Michelle accused Schmidt of raping her on a yacht in 2021. “He followed me into a shower, slammed me against the wall, and forcibly raped me,” she wrote in her legal declaration. She claims to have “begged” the former Google exec to stop. As per Michelle’s allegations, Schmidt not only ignored her, but also tried to convinced her the next morning that she “enjoyed the assault.”
Among other accusations she raised about him, Ritter claimed Schmidt had pressured her to look “really hot and sexy” during business meetings, allegedly forcing her to “use prescription stimulants to lose weight.”
In other alleged instances, Ritter said Schmidt even inappropriately talked about her to co-workers, purportedly saying, “You should see her naked.”
Her other accusations suggested a reportedly “erratic” Schmidt had brutally intimidated and “cyberstalked” her. After the alleged rape, Ritter claimed that the ex-Google CEO installed spyware on her computer around November 2021. As per the Daily Mail’s reportage of Ritter’s legal filing, Schmidt is believed to have a “backdoor access to Google servers,” which allowed him “to access anyone’s account and personal information.
