Ex-Girlfriend Says Eric Schmidt Promised Her 5% of His Anthropic Stake
Michelle Ritter, 32, says former Google CEO Eric Schmidt promised her 5% of his Anthropic holding, according to a source familiar with her claims. The pledge appears in neither emails nor court papers. Anthropic is expected to list this month at about $1.5 trillion.
Michelle Ritter, 32, the former girlfriend of ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt, says he promised her 5% of his roughly 1% stake in Anthropic, according to a source familiar with her claims. Ritter is suing Schmidt, 71, in federal court in Los Angeles.
The stake in the AI company behind Claude would be worth nearly $10 billion on paper at the $965 billion valuation Anthropic announced in May. Strong indications point to a stock market listing later this month at a valuation of around $1.5 trillion, which would push that figure higher.
Ritter says Schmidt cut her out after they broke up. The source said he repeatedly reassured her, "I've got you," when it came to sharing the value. "She trusted him. Now she just wants to get paid," the source said. Those are claims from Ritter's side; Schmidt's response was not available.
A second source close to Ritter said they personally heard Schmidt say in Los Angeles, where the two lived together for a period, that she would get her share of the Anthropic shares.
What the emails show
Emails obtained by the New York Post's reporters show Ritter was directly involved in early talks with Anthropic's founders. The claim to 5% of Schmidt's holding does not appear in them. It has also not been included in court papers tied to the pair's split in 2024.
Ritter was a 26-year-old Columbia University law and MBA student when she met Schmidt in 2020. They started dating and launched a tech incubator, Steel Perlot, which Schmidt backed with $100 million.
In December 2020, Schmidt proposed a temporary company with a $1 million budget to pay Anthropic's seven founders and cover their computer and cloud bills, the emails show. He asked Ritter and Amanda Rubin of Hillspire, his family office, to help set it up. Rubin wrote to Ritter on Dec. 11 thanking her for "laying out the big issues for this deal."
The next month, Ritter began communicating directly with Anthropic co-founder Daniela Amodei. "As Eric said, I'm handling the raise," Ritter wrote on Jan. 7, 2021. Daniela asked to talk through "next steps on incorporation and initial investment."
Ritter asked how the seven founders would divide their shares and what they thought the company was worth before outside money came in. The next day, Daniela's brother and fellow co-founder, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, proposed talking with Schmidt. Ritter replied that Schmidt was looking forward to the call.
Series A and a sworn statement
Schmidt was among the investors in Anthropic's $124 million Series A, its first major funding round, in May 2021. He reportedly put in tens of millions of dollars.
Elijah "Eli" Reinhardt, an early member of the Steel Perlot team, filed a signed declaration backing Ritter in her federal lawsuit. "Michelle was the primary driver of the Anthropic Investment," he said. He added that he believed Schmidt's family office had put the money into the Series A.
"It didn't seem right that [Steel Perlot] was sidelined on the deal since Michelle initiated it," Reinhardt said. He also said he never received a share of gains he was promised on investments he worked on with Steel Perlot.
Ritter's federal complaint cites her "Anthropic-related" work among several projects for which she alleges she went unpaid.
