A multi-millionaire tech investor accused of thrusting up against a woman’s bottom as she loaded a dishwasher has been cleared of assaulting her.
Stefan Glanzer, 61, allegedly pressed himself against the woman in an office in Notting Hill, west London, on 9 June 2021.
The woman told Isleworth Crown Court she ‘felt a pressure come up behind her’ and was ‘frozen in shock.’
Married father-of-three Glanzer denied sexual assault and insisted he bumped into her with his hip accidentally after he nipped into the kitchen for a quick cup of coffee.
The German-born entrepreneur smiled to members of his family from the dock as the jury acquitted him of sexual assault after deliberating for 3 hours and 15 minutes.
Stefan Glanzer, 61, (pictured) has been cleared of sexual assault after being accused of thrusting up against a woman’s bottom in 2021
Pictured here is the office kitchen in Notting Hill in which the alleged assault happened
He is the co-founder of Passion Capital, which is one of London’s largest tech investment firms.
Last year the company said it was ‘removing his involvement and membership in all Passion entities that he held from his previous role’ and would seek to limit his financial rewards.
Passion Capital is led by American venture capitalist Eileen Burbidge, who was Boris Johnson’s digital adviser when he was Mayor of London.
Glanzer owns a home in Kensington Park Gardens where properties can fetch over £10m.
He was banned from the Underground for 18 months nearly 11 years ago after he rubbed his groin against a female commuter’s bottom on packed train.
The internet tycoon was spotted by a plain clothes officers assaulting the woman as they waited to board a Central line train at Oxford Circus station.
He admitted sexual assault and possession of cannabis at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in December 2012.
Father-of-three Glanzer claimed he was under the influence of cannabis at the time of the offence and has not smoked it since.
He was then handed an eight-week sentence, suspended for 18 months, and placed on the sex offenders register for seven years.
Glanzer, a DJ for 15 years, was the co-founder Ricardo.de, one of the first European online auction websites, and became chairman of Last.fm in 2004.
He sold his stake in the site for £22 million in 2007 and currently sits on the board of health and beauty website Wahanda.com
He was hailed as of Europe’s top investors by TechCrunch in 2010 and started Passion in 2011 alongside Burbidge and Robert Dighero, who now run the company.
Passion’s venture capital investments include the app-based bank Monzo and the insurance start-up Marshmallow.
Prosecutor Jose Olivares-Chandler had told jurors Glanzer deliberately rubbed up against the woman the woman who was ‘frozen in shock.’
But Glanzer insisted he accidentally claimed he bumped into the woman with his right hip in the kitchen.
‘We had started walking simultaneously and out of a sudden, when I was looking to the left at the two other people who made an attempt crossing through… I bumped into the lady,’ Glanzer said.
Isleworth Crown Court (pictured) cleared Stefan Glanzer of sexual assault
His barrister Louise Sweet asked: ‘Did you when you arrived at the [offices] at about 1:10pm on 9 June, deliberately push your genitals into [the victim].’
Glanzer replied: ‘No, I didn’t push any part of my body other than the hip.’
Talking of his ‘spectacular fall from grace’ in 2012 he said: ‘On a personal level it was indeed spectacular as it strengthened our family on a personal note, I’m at the same experience of my friends and family, I didn’t lose anybody it was quite the opposite.
‘My kids who thought before I was only super successful [realised] I was human who makes mistakes as well.’
Glanzer, of Kensington Park Gardens, denied and was cleared of sexual assault.