Who needs a lover when you have friends like this?
Eric Schmidt, an engineer and prolific romancer, set tongues wagging when he was spotted with Gloria-Sophie Bourcanto in Davos in January. Gloria-Sophie Burkant is a German model and doctoral student 40 years her junior, whose parents are Markus Söder and Ulrike Burkant, a powerful minister and president of Bavaria.
Sources close to Schmidt, 70, have now told Page Six that the former Google CEO has told friends that she is just a “friend.”
I’m glad to hear that the male loneliness epidemic hasn’t hit Silicon Valley. But we remember Schmidt’s last “friend”.
In 2019, he courted Alexandra Duisberg, 32 years his junior, and gave her a sparkling 10-carat pink sapphire ring estimated to be worth millions.
A source told Page Six at the time that it was just a “friendship ring.”
Returning to his new friend, Germany’s Bild newspaper reported that Burkant, who just turned 27 in December, was “a former Google CEO who fell in love with a German girl.”
Mr Schmidt, whose net worth is valued at $54.6 billion by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, has been married to Wendy Schmidt for 40 years, but it is understood that their marriage is open.
Schmidt and Burkant, who appeared in Turkish Vogue, are scheduled to meet again this weekend when they attend the Munich Security Conference from February 13th to 15th.
A source said, “It’s likely that they will pass each other, but her family will be helping organize the event, so they will likely attend.”
Burkant’s father, Söder, is 59 years younger than Schmidt.
Bourkant splits his time between Germany, Los Angeles and New York, and owns an apartment in Midtown South, according to real estate records reviewed by the newspaper.
Sources say Schmidt and Bourkant have similar interests and operate in similar social circles.
“She was someone who was interested in some of the things that were discussed at Davos, such as AI,” the source said.
“Joining @worldeconomicforum and listening to the conversation about AI and the future of Europe was deeply moving for me,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “When we imagine our children of the future, we want them to grow up in a world where curiosity, freedom, and compassion are protected.”
Schmidt, who resigned as Google’s chief executive in 2011, is said to have had affairs with a number of women in the past.
He is currently embroiled in a lawsuit with former mistress Michelle Ritter, whom he began dating and had business dealings with when she was 27. She accused Mr. Schmidt of misconduct and financial impropriety, which Mr. Schmidt denies.
He was also linked to Marcy Simon, Kate Boehner, Lisa Shields, pianist Cho San Nguyen, and New York City socialite Ulla Parker.
Bourkant was previously in a relationship with Florian Moers, founder of Sanno Capital.
“Ready for a year full of love, happiness, loyalty, and passion,” she wrote on Instagram on New Year’s Eve.
