What Happens in Silicon Valley

A very strange, sordid story out of Silicon Valley involving a Sequoia Capital partner:

A lawsuit filed 8 March in San Mateo county superior court in California claims Goguen abused Amber Laurel Baptiste “sexually, physically and emotionally for over 13 years."

Goguen signed a contract to pay Baptiste $40m as compensation, but after paying her $10m Goguen refused to honor the rest of his agreement, according to the lawsuit.

And then this happened:

Former Sequoia Capital partner Michael Goguen countersued the woman who claims he sexually abused her for more than a decade, alleging that she’d threatened to publicly accuse him of "false, horrific acts" unless he paid her $40 million in hush money.

Goguen accused Amber Laurel Baptiste of extortion in San Mateo County Superior Court, six days after she sued him. His 16-page countersuit, littered with intimate details of their affair, alleges that Baptiste was an exotic dancer when the two met, “first looking for a payday and later for revenge.”

[SFGate | The Guardian]