Just after 3pm on the spring Saturday of May 27, a 31-year-old woman walked up to the Bishopsgate station of the City of London Police and reported she had been raped by one male in the penthouse suite of the exclusive hotel The Ned, a kilometer’s walk away.
Officers responded quickly and upon arriving at the scene collected samples of clothing for testing, as well as bed linen, blood-soiled items, a damaged telephone and drug paraphernalia. They also arrested the alleged suspect: Shervin Pishevar, the prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalist and early Uber investor who is chairman of transportation startup Hyperloop One.
Police have only publicly responded to inquiries to confirm that a 43-year-old man from San Francisco was arrested on suspicion of rape that afternoon and released under investigation. But a copy of the police report obtained by Forbes, confirms the details of the arrest and the identity of the suspect.
Pishevar was never charged with a crime. A police spokesperson said that authorities had “insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction, therefore no further action was taken against the suspect.”
In a statement, an attorney for Pishevar, Mark Fabiani said:
"In May 2017, Mr. Pishevar was detained briefly in London in connection with a alleged sexual assault, an allegation he categorically denied. He fully cooperated with the police investigation which was exhaustive and detailed. In July he was informed that no further action would be taken against him and he was “de-arrested” (a British legal term). Mr. Pishevar is grateful for the highly professional and expeditious manner in which the inquiry was conducted."
The London incident has gained new relevance, and newsworthiness, following an action by Pishevar himself. On Monday, he filed suit in a California court against Definers Public Affairs, as well as two of its executives, accusing them of defamation for conducting a covert smear campaign against him.
Pishevar alleges that Definers, which specializes in what’s called “opposition research” in political circles, spread false and disparaging information about him, including that he is a Russian government agent and friend of Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin. According to the suit, the firm has also spread false and disparaging information suggesting Pishevar “had an incident with a prostitute in Europe,” and “had paid money to settle a claim for sexual assault in London.”
In the statement Fabiani added:
"Mr. Pishevar is informed that several false rumors have been spread about him, including that he purportedly paid money to settle the claim. That is categorically false. It is because of false rumors like this that Mr. Pishevar was compelled to bring his legal action against Definers to ensure that his reputation is not destroyed and that the truth will always prevail."
Definers vehemently denied the claims. “Mr Pishevar's accusations against Definers are completely false,” Tim Miller, a partner at the firm, said in a statement. “His claims are delusional, we have never engaged in any of the actions he outlined in this complaint, and Definers has never done any work with regards to Mr Pishevar.”
It will be up to the courts to determine whether the firm has spread information – true or false – about incidents involving Pishevar in London and Europe, but evidence of his arrest at The Ned could provide the firm and its executives ammunition in any defense against some of the accusations made against them.
The outlines of the London incident were first reported by The Sun newspaper. In a June 22 article, the British paper wrote that a U.S. “billionaire” had been arrested earlier that year for rape in a suite at a luxury hotel, but that the accused had spent £100,000 to win an injunction in London High Court to prevent the paper from divulging his identity.
Forbes, which had no contact with Definers before Pishevar filed the defamation case, began inquiring about the incident after learning that it might involve a Silicon Valley personality. Forbes obtained a copy of the police report, which is sealed, detailing the incident at The Ned and confirming the identity of the person arrested.
Pishevar’s ties to The Ned hotel run deep. The Ned was developed as a joint venture between Soho House & Co and Sydell Group, which owns hotels like the Line in LA and NoMad in New York. Billionaire Ron Burkle, a friend of Pishevar’s, and British restaurateur Nick Jones had spent four years and some £200 million to renovate what was once the headquarters of Midland Bank, a storied British lender.
Built not far from where medieval poultry sellers sold their birds in the heart of London’s historical financial district, The Ned now is home to dark-suited bankers and financiers who flock to its eight restaurants for power lunches and tony dinners. Membership requires knowing someone already on the list.
The hotel’s pièce de résistance is the chairman’s suite, said to cost as much as £3,500 a night and named after its architect Edward Lutyens. With a private elevator straight from the hotel entrance, the suite allows guests to come and go without mingling with hotel staff or other guests. The room is unavailable to the public, used only by friends of the hotel’s owners, a hotel staff member said, without specifying Burkle or Jones.
It’s through the private elevator and entrance of the hotel’s penthouse that police walked Pishevar under detention, keeping him largely out of sight, a source with knowledge of the arrest says.
Pishevar is successful entrepreneur and a flamboyant personality who is an active contributor to Democratic Party causes and campaigns. He has a vast network of connections among the rich and powerful, including Richard Branson, who recently invested in Hyperloop One, and Uber co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick. Pishevar is also known for a lavish lifestyle and a love of parties.
In his defamation suit against Definers, Pishevar says several reporters “were aware of rumors that were circulating about Mr. Pishevar, including false and salacious rumors about alleged sexual misconduct, and a false claim that Mr. Pishevar entered into a settlement agreement concerning the purported sexual misconduct.” Pishevar also alleges that Definers has told a third party that “we hear Shervin is the next to go down.”
The statement appears to be a reference to what can be described as a public reckoning in Silicon Valley, where dozens of women have gone on the record to allege sexual harassment and, in some cases, assault by male venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and executives.
In February, former Uber engineer Susan Fowler wrote an explosive blog post blowing the whistle on what she described as a culture of gender-based harassment, discrimination and retaliation at the ride-sharing giant. (Pishevar, while a prominent investor in the company, was not implicated.) The memo led to a wide-ranging investigation by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, that recommended sweeping reforms to the company’s toxic culture. Something of a shareholder revolt unsued, ending with the resignation of Kalanick, who some board members saw as responsible for the company’s failings. (Pishevar sided with Kalanick arguing in court filings that board members who pushed Kalanick out were guilty of breaching their fiduciary duty.)
In the weeks and months that followed the Fowler story, more women have come forward with stories of harassment and assault. Their stories have led to the resignations of VCs like Justin Caldbeck, of Binary Capital, and Dave McClure, of 500 Startups. Others, including blogger Robert Scoble, and SoFi CEO Mike Cagney, have also stepped down from their posts following allegations of improper contact with women.
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