Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt has been accused of stalking and abusing his former mistress Michelle Ritter. Ritter has claimed that Schmidt subjected her to constant digital surveillance amid disputes over money, a failed AI startup and access to his Bel Air residence. 

Ritter said that Schmidt monitored her private communications and restricted her access to money and property by using his riches, power and technical expertise, according to the New York Post.

Their court battle hit the ceiling in December 2024 when Ritter filed a domestic violence restraining order against Schmidt, alleging that he had prevented her from accessing her AI business, Steel Perlot, which had been funded by him to the tune of $100 million. The restraining order was lifted following a new understanding between the parties.

“I literally cannot have a private phone call or send a private email without surveillance,” Ritter alleged in the filing. “My former partner is extraordinarily powerful and capable and has used every mean[s] to block me from getting access to secure data, devices, finances, or businesses, or to simply live my life in peace,” she further alleged. 

Ritter, who is 39 years younger than Schmidt, claims he asked her to accept a gag order on sexual assault or harassment charges and sign a false statement denying any such claim. However, in the unredacted court documents she did not elaborate on these claims. 

On October 8, Schmidt’s lawyers filed a response calling Ritter’s allegations demonstrably false and a blatant abuse of the judicial system.

Schmidt has been dubbed Silicon Valley’s ‘Casanova’ due to his history of dating women much younger than him. The former CEO led Google from 2001 to 2017, transforming it into a tech giant under founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.