Michael Goguen, a Silicon Valley billionaire has filed a damage lawsuit against the famous American newspaper New York Post, accusing the publication of defamation. The newspaper recently published a story based on a lawsuit accusing Goguen of running a “harem” of women and planning to kill the people who opposed him.
Renowned tech billionaire Goguen said, “The article falsely and outrageously states that he has engaged in widespread criminal misconduct and sexual abuse, that he turned Whitefish, Montana, into a ‘personal fiefdom’ and ‘banana republic’ where he ‘controls’ law enforcement, and that he is another Harvey Weinstein (a convicted serial rapist) and Jeffrey Epstein (the deceased pedophile) — two of the most reviled men in American history.”
“The truth is that Mr. Goguen has been the target of unscrupulous characters and, in connection with the federal prosecution of Matthew Marshall in which Mr. Goguen was the victim and the Government’s primary witness, the FBI and United States Attorney’s Office have found every claim of substantial wrongdoing about Mr. Goguen to be false.”
The Post story, published on November 20, was primarily based on allegations contained in a lawsuit by Matthew Marshall, a former US State Department official who led security operations for Goguen. In the defamation lawsuit, Goguen and his team are asking for a retraction and over $500 million in damages, Business Insider reported today.
The lawsuit alleged that the 57-year-old billionaire roped Marshall into schemes to hide affairs from his wife, kept a spreadsheet of about 5,000 women with whom he had sex, and repeatedly asked or suggested that Marshall kill people who threatened to expose Goguen’s lifestyle.
The lawsuit described Goguen’s activity as a sex-trafficking operation that recruited, transported, and paid off women for sex, and alleged he used his wealth and influence to silence people in the small town of Whitefish who have accused him of wrongdoing.
Attorneys for Goguen sent a letter to the Post on Sunday demanding a correction and apology for the story, Insider previously reported. Representatives for the Post didn’t immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment on Goguen’s defamation lawsuit.
Marshall — along with John Maguire, Keegan Bonnet, and Anthony Aguilar, three other ex-employees of Goguen — first filed the lawsuit in February, and revised it significantly in September. Goguen filed a motion to dismiss it earlier this year, arguing his former employees didn’t have the standing to bring the lawsuit and failed to describe a pattern of illegal activity.
