Uber investor Shervin Pishevar denies claims by 5 women that he sexually harassed them

• Shervin Pishevar, a well-known Silicon Valley venture capitalist who has invested in Uber, Airbnb, and Tumblr, has denied allegations in a Bloomberg report that he sexually harassed five women.
• Pishevar says he is the victim of a smear campaign.
• The new allegations are "anonymous and untrue" and "directly refuted by an eyewitness," he says.
• Separately, he was also arrested in London on May 27 following a rape allegation but released without charge when police decided the case would not stand up.
• He took out an injunction to stop UK media reporting on the arrest. The case also featured a mysterious police report which authorities later said was not genuine.

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Uber investor Shervin Pishevar has denied a report published by Bloomberg on Friday in which five women claim he sexually harassed or assaulted them.

The women told Bloomberg that the Silicon Valley venture capitalist used his position of power to pursue unwanted relationships and non-reciprocal sexual encounters.

A spokesperson for Pishevar told Business Insider the story is not true. "Shervin Pishevar is the victim of an organized smear campaign," a representative of Pishevar said. "Now, anonymous and untrue stories have suddenly surfaced concerning Mr. Pishevar. The assertions regarding the only person named have now been directly refuted by an eyewitness to the claimed events." (Pishevar's full statement is at the bottom of this article.)

Austin Geidt, Uber's fourth employee, is one of the women mentioned in the report. She did not speak to Bloomberg herself but several Uber employees told the news service they saw Pishevar put his hand on her leg and move it up her dress at an Uber Christmas party in December 2014. Pishevar attended the party with a pony on a leash that was wearing a Santa hat, the sources said. Geidt squirmed away, Bloomberg said.

Pishevar denies the allegation. A different source in the Bloomberg story also says that "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."

Pishevar also provided some emails to Business Insider that show Pishevar and Geidt continued to exchange friendly messages after the alleged incident. When Pishevar suggested that he and Geidt go for lunch in July 2015, Geidt responded: "Yup, I'd love that." Later, in 2016, Geidt emailed Pishevar to say, "I'm travelling a bit next week but would love to grab some coffee when I'm back if you're around."

Another female entrepreneur told Bloomberg that Pishevar forcibly kissed and groped her when she met him for dinner to pitch her company. Another said Pishevar showed her pictures of vaginas on his phone in a Dublin hotel room during the Web Summit conference in 2013.

Pishevar is the founding partner of Sherpa Capital, which has profited from early investments into the likes of Airbnb, and Tumblr. He is also the CEO and cofounder of Virgin Hyperloop One, a tube-based transportation technology backed by Richard Branson.

The tech mogul has close links to top-level US politicians. He has reportedly given over $500,000 (£370,000) to Democratic candidates and committees over the years, and last year he hosted a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton at his home in San Francisco, according to Bloomberg.

In an unrelated incident, Pishevar was arrested in London on May 27 after an allegation of rape at the Ned Hotel. He was never charged. Police also wrote a letter claiming they were not the source of a "report" into the allegation. Pishevar took an injunction out in London that prevented at least one UK publication, The Sun, from reporting on the arrest.

Earlier this month, Pishevar sued a research firm run by Republican campaign veterans. He accused it of spreading false information about him, including the story about the incident at The Ned.

Pishevar's PR rep, Mark Fabiani, provided Business Insider with the following statement:

"Shervin Pishevar is the victim of an organized smear campaign, which so far has involved the fabrication of a London 'police report'. Now, anonymous and untrue stories have suddenly surfaced concerning Mr. Pishevar. The assertions regarding the only person named have now been directly refuted by an eyewitness to the claimed events, and there are communications sent from the named person herself to Mr. Pishevar which directly undermine any credibility being given to the claims made. Just as the London 'police report' turned out to be fabricated, we are confident that these anecdotes will be shown to be untrue as well. Mr. Pishevar is confident that he will be vindicated."