Uber investor accused of sexual misconduct by a number of women

Shervin Pishevar, an early investor in Uber technologies, has been accused by a number of former and current female colleagues of sexual misconduct, sources at Bloomberg have reported. It is allegedly in 2014, at Uber's annual holiday party, Pishevar, made inappropriate advances towards, Austin Geidt, 30, Uber's head of global expansion. It is alleged that he placed his hand on her leg and moved it up her dress. Colleagues that witnessed his actions said Geidt "squirmed" away. It's said, Pishevar, took a liking to Geidt when she started as an intern at Uber in 2010. She was set the task of launching the ride-hailing app in new cities. Pishevar, a major Democratic Party donor was able to offer valuable political and business connections. Colleagues of Geidt say that Pishevar would follow her around at many other company events and could be seen placing his hand on her legs.

Pishevar has also been accused of sexual assault or harassment by five other women. The women claim he used his professional connections and prospects of jobs or mentorships to make unwanted sexual advances on his alleged victims. On May 27, 2017, Pishevar was arrested in London for the alleged raped of a woman in the city's Ned hotel. He was released under investigation but was never charged. According to Bloomberg, he managed to secure an injunction on the Sun newspaper, forbidding them to report on his arrest. Pishevar, co-founder and managing director of Sherpa Capital, is known to be an extremely powerful figure in Silicon Valley. He, and former Uber CEO, Travis Kalanick were said to have built a strong friendship and publicly came to the defence of Kalanick when he was forced out of his role at Uber. Representatives of Pishevar, declined to comment on these allegations of sexual assault and harassment before they were publicised but have now made a statement saying: "We are confident that these anecdotes will be shown to be untrue"