Uber investor Shervin Pishevar accused of sexual misconduct

Uber held its 2014 holiday party on an unfurnished floor at its swank, mood-lit headquarters in San Francisco. Employees and investors attended in flamboyant attire from the Roaring ’20s and drank at an open bar into the early morning hours. Venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar, several attendees recall, brought a live pony on a leash.

Pishevar, an early backer of the ride-hailing company who was a board observer at the time, allegedly did something else memorable that night. According to current and former colleagues, the then-40-year-old investor approached Austin Geidt, Uber’s 30-year-old head of global expansion, placed his hand on her leg and moved it up her dress. Geidt squirmed away, the colleagues say.

It was not the first time Pishevar had made advances toward Geidt, which she declined to reciprocate, according to the colleagues. Geidt joined Uber Technologies Inc. as an intern in 2010. She was soon tasked with expanding Uber to more cities; Pishevar, a major Democratic Party donor, offered valuable political and business connections.

Over the years, these people say, Pishevar followed Geidt around at company events, at times placing his hand on her leg or lower back. A person with firsthand knowledge of the holiday party incident and these other encounters confirmed the account of Pishevar’s behavior to Bloomberg. Geidt, now the head of operations for Uber’s autonomous driving unit, declined to comment for this story.

Five other women who met Pishevar in a professional context told Bloomberg they were sexually assaulted or harassed by him. In each case, the women accused Pishevar of exploiting a professional connection, and using the prospect of a job, mentorship or investment to make an unwanted advance. They all asked not to be identified, citing fears over the investor’s history of filing lawsuits and concerns that he could wield his influence to ruin their careers. This year Pishevar sued what he described as an opposition research firm, claiming it was trying to spread false allegations about him.

In an email, an attorney for Pishevar says he and his then-girlfriend made a brief appearance at Uber’s holiday party with the pony, which was wearing a Santa hat. He denied touching Geidt inappropriately then or making sexual advances toward her at other events. Randa Osman, his lawyer at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, says Pishevar and Geidt maintained “a friendly, professional relationship” and referenced emails from 2015 and 2016 in which she agreed to meet him for lunch and coffee.

A person, referred to Bloomberg by Pishevar’s spokesman but who asked not to be identified, says she attended the Uber party and didn’t witness the alleged incident. She confirms that Pishevar left after a short period of time and says he wouldn’t have been able to touch Geidt because he was holding the pony’s leash in one hand and a drink in the other. She says she wasn’t with Pishevar the entire time and never saw Geidt.

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Like Hollywood, Washington and New York City, Silicon Valley is in a moral crisis after a litany of revelations about predatory behavior by powerful men. Venture capitalists Justin Caldbeck of Binary Capital, Steve Jurvetson of DFJ and Dave McClure of 500 Startups all left their firms following accusations of misconduct. Roy Price, former head of Amazon Studios, resigned in October after a producer accused him of sexual harassment.

Pishevar, co-founder and managing director of Sherpa Capital, is a powerful figure in the valley and a bridge to establishment figures on both coasts. He cultivated a relationship with Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick and publicly came to his defense when he was ousted as CEO and sued by another investor.

In addition to investing in Uber, Pishevar made early bets on Airbnb, Warby Parker and Tumblr, which Yahoo bought for $1.1 billion. He is also co-founder and co-executive chairman of Virgin Hyperloop One, which is seeking to develop a futuristic tube-based transportation system with Richard Branson.

The five women who spoke to Bloomberg say Pishevar used his position of power to pursue romantic relationships and unwanted sexual encounters. In a statement, Pishevar’s representatives said, “We are confident that these anecdotes will be shown to be untrue.”

One entrepreneur says Pishevar asked to meet with her a few years ago to discuss investing in her company. During a dinner meeting, she says, Pishevar started to hit on her, though she made it clear she was only interested in a business relationship. Pishevar tried to earn some sympathy by explaining that he and his wife were getting a divorce. She said Pishevar eventually forced himself on her, kissing and groping her. “I’m pushing back and trying to talk about anything else,” she said. “It is really shady, this baiting and switching that he does.”

Another tech worker says she reached out to Pishevar to discuss career opportunities in 2013. They met for dinner at a San Francisco restaurant, then he invited her back to his home. She went because they had not yet talked about potential jobs. When they got there, the woman says Pishevar forcibly kissed her.

“He basically jumped on me, tried to put his tongue down my throat, and I stopped it,” she says. “I wanted to get career advice, and it was twisted into something else.”

A woman Pishevar had hired says he repeatedly tried to pressure her into having sex in 2013. She says she told him several times she did not want to lead him in the wrong direction and was not interested, including in a Facebook message reviewed by Bloomberg. Still, she says that on a trip, he booked them a single hotel room and that night attempted to perform oral sex on her until she convinced him to stop. “It felt really wrong, and it was really confusing at the time,” she says. “I just remember his big body on top of me. I was young enough to be his daughter.”

She says she confided in her sister, who recounted their conversation to Bloomberg and described the events as a lasting trauma.

A fourth woman says Pishevar hired her company in 2015. He invited her to a party in Los Angeles. Late that evening, the woman says, Pishevar cornered her and forcibly kissed her. She pushed him off, but in the weeks that followed, she says, he repeatedly harassed her. She insisted that she wanted to keep the relationship professional, and eventually he gave up. She told a friend at the time, who later relayed the details of her account to Bloomberg.

At a 2013 conference in Ireland, another entrepreneur says she visited a suite where Pishevar had convened an after-party with other founders and investors. As other partygoers disappeared into adjoining rooms, the entrepreneur found herself alone on the couch, seated between Pishevar and another man. Pishevar was holding a phone — she does not recall who it belonged to—and began showing her images of vaginas. The woman says she texted a friend who rescued her before anything else happened.

On May 27, 2017, Pishevar was arrested in London after a woman accused him of raping her at the Ned hotel. Pishevar was “released under investigation” and never charged, according to London police. He secured an injunction preventing at least one publication, the Sun newspaper, from reporting on the arrest.

Pishevar says he was detained briefly and that the assault claim was untrue.

This month Pishevar sued a consulting firm run by Republican campaign veterans and accused it of spreading false information about him. The firm, Definers Public Affairs, said that it has never conducted work regarding Pishevar and called his claims “delusional.” A week later, the Sun reported that it successfully challenged Pishevar’s gag order in Britain’s High Court after he had spent $130,000 on the case.

Nevertheless, Pishevar’s legal actions had an impact. Some of the women who shared allegations with Bloomberg had originally agreed to be identified by name. After his lawsuit, they withdrew their names, citing the legal risks.

Emily Chang is a Bloomberg writer. Email: echang68@bloomberg.net