Who is Michelle Ritter? All about the entrepreneur alleging abuse by tech billionaire Eric Schmidt

Michelle Ritter is the founder and CEO of Steel Perlot. Ritter has accused her ex-boyfriend, former CEO of Google Eric Schmidt, of stalking, abuse, and controlling behavior. Ritter also claimed that Schmidt subjected her to an "absolute digital surveillance system" amid the pair's battle over cash, a failed AI startup, and access to a Bel Air mansion, as per court documents newly obtained by the NY Post.

Eric Schmidt had been in a public open marriage with Wendy Schmidt, and Michelle was reportedly his ex-mistress. Ritter filed for a temporary restraining order against Schmidt late last year, as per court documents obtained by NY Post.

More about Michelle Ritter's allegations against Eric Schmidt

In December 2024, Michelle Ritter called her former partner "extraordinarily powerful and capable" and accused him of blocking her from "getting access to secure data, devices, finances or businesses, or to simply live my life in peace."

However, Michelle retracted her restraining order request in January after settling on an agreement with Schmidt, as per court documents. In the written settlement agreement, Schmidt was asked to make "substantial payments" to Ritter. Ritter has since claimed that Schmidt has failed to honor the agreement and has instead attempted to win "by economic and resource attrition" since she reportedly can't afford to pay a $75,000 court fee in a pending arbitration proceeding.

Ritter had also accused Schmidt of keeping her out of her AI-focused startup Steel Perlot's website.

Schmidt's lawyers responded to Ritter's claims in their own filing, as per The Post, and called her filing "demonstrably false" and "a blatant abuse of the judicial system."

As per Page Six, Ritter began dating Schmidt in 2021, and the billionaire helped fund Steel Perlot with $100 million. However, the two reportedly broke up by May 2024.

Ritter and Schmidt will meet in their next court hearing on December 4 in Los Angeles.

Who is Michelle Ritter

Michelle Ritter is the founder and CEO of Steel Perlot, an AI-focused startup that "builds and invests in scalable, analytics-driven platform businesses," as per Steel Perlot's official website.

Michelle also leads StarX, which "unlocks the financial potential of human capital as an asset class, beginning with Sports."

Ritter graduated from Johns Hopkins with a triple major in economics, international studies, and political science and earned a JD/MBA from Columbia University. She also researches cyber wargaming at Stanford's Hoover institution and serves on the advisory board for Columbia University's Richard Paul Richman Center for Business, Law, and Public Policy.

In December 2020, Ritter founded Knox Networks Inc., a payments platform business.

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