The 31-year-old former mistress of 70-year-old ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt, is accusing the tech billionaire of stalking, emotional abuse, “toxic masculinity,” and subjecting her to an “absolute digital surveillance system.”
The mistress, Michelle Ritter, filed the suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleging that the powerful mogul used his resources and tech savvy to control and retaliate against her after their relationship ended.
Ritter, a Columbia Law School graduate who met Schmidt in 2020 while still a student, claims the relationship turned toxic amid disputes over money, a failed AI startup called Steel Perlot, and access to a lavish Bel Air mansion.
Schmidt reportedly invested $100 million in Steel Perlot, where Ritter served as founder and CEO. But according to court filings, Schmidt locked her out of the company’s website and monitored her every digital move, making private calls or emails impossible without his oversight.
“Please note Eric’s technical background,” the filing, obtained by the New York Post, states. “I literally cannot have a private phone call or send a private email without surveillance.”
Schmidt reportedly has an open marriage with his wife of 45 years, Wendy Schmidt.
The Post reports:
In early December, Ritter and Schmidt — whose net worth is estimated by Bloomberg at $44.8 billion — struck a “written settlement agreement” that required Schmidt to make “substantial payments” to Ritter but whose details remain under seal, according to a Sept. 8 filing in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
But just a week later on Dec. 11, Ritter filed an explosive “domestic violence restraining order” against Schmidt — only to withdraw it three weeks later on Jan. 6 after the two sides apparently came to a fresh agreement, court documents show.
In the since-withdrawn TRO request, Ritter claimed that the tech tycoon days earlier had locked her out of the website of her startup Steel Perlot — an AI-focused venture firm into which Schmidt had plowed $100 million, a source close to the situation told The Post.
The court filing also claims the tech billionaire attempted to place Ritter under “a gag order on any sexual assault or harassment allegations and sign a knowingly false declaration that any such allegations never happened.”
Schmidt’s legal team fired back in an 82-page response on October 8, 2024, calling Ritter’s claims “demonstrably false” and a “blatant abuse of the judicial system.” Much of the document is redacted ahead of a court hearing on the matter scheduled for December.
The Post notes that Schmidt’s previous flings include “fashion designers, socialites, PR executives, and concert pianists. In 2019, Schmidt gifted his then girlfriend, Alexandra Duisberg — a blond medical school grad turned fashionista who was 32 years his junior — a huge, 10-carat pink sapphire ring that kick-started engagement rumors.”
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