Steve Jurvetson has been in the news once again these days, having hosted a “sex party”. His venture capital firm DFJ is apologizing for the event he hosted, further highlighting how the personal allegations against him ultimately forced him out of his job.
Jurvetson hosted a party at his home that featured rampant sex and drug use following a DFJ event, according to an upcoming book from Bloomberg journalist Emily Chang. The party, held at Jurvetson’s home in Half Moon Bay, followed the firm’s new annual Big Think conference. But personal friends of Jurvetson—unaffiliated with DFJ—were also invited to the party, which included security and around 100 to 150 people.
“We were dismayed to learn of behavior at the party that was completely at odds with DFJ’s culture, which has been, and will continue to be, built on the values of respect and integrity. We would never want anyone to feel uncomfortable and we are sorry if that happened,” the venture firm said in its statement.
DFJ suggested the party played a role in Jurvetson’s ouster from the firm late last year: “The decisive action we’ve taken in recent months reflects our steadfast commitment to our values.”
A Jurvetson representative disputed the idea that his event was a “sex party” and said that the venture capitalist had hosted the event for at least three years—meaning that DFJ should not be in the dark about the event.
Elon Musk, a tech CEO who is a close friend of Jurvetson’s, confirmed his attendance at the event as Biggar alleged, but blasted his characterization of events. “If there are ‘sex parties’ in Silicon Valley, I haven’t seen or heard of one,” Musk told WIRED in what were his first public comments on Jurvetson since he was ousted from DFJ. “If you want wild parties, you’re in the wrong place, obviously. That DFJ party was boring and corporate, with zero sex or nudity anywhere.”
Here is the section that Axios said it got from the book:
“The invite requested ‘glamazon adventurer, safari chic and jungle tribal attire’ for the party, to be hosted at “Casa Jurvey by the Sea”, the home of venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson in the resort beach town of Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco. It turned out this was the afterparty for his venture capital firm, DFJ’s Big Think ‘unconference,’ an exclusive gathering for folks in the tech industry.”
The Axios story comes a day after tech entrepreneur Paul Biggar posted a blog that didn’t name Jurvetson or DFJ, but said that the details of the party recounted by an anonymous “Jane Doe” in “Brotopia” were accurate.
“This party she describes, with the cuddle puddle and the molly and the stroking, wasn’t just some random rich dude’s house. This was a top-tier VC firm’s official party,” Biggar wrote.
