Internet millionaire and man-about-town Gurbaksh Chahal pleaded not guilty Friday to more than 40 counts related to domestic violence.
Court records show 31-year-old Chahal is accused of assaulting a girlfriend in his Rincon Hill home on Monday. He's charged with 45 felonies, including 41 counts of assault and domestic violence.
His bail has been increased from $125,000 to $1 million.
The San Francisco entrepreneur made his first millions as a teenager, selling his first company for more than $40 million. A second company, BlueLithium, was sold to Yahoo for $300 million.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports Chahal has been accused of false imprisonment and assault with a deadly weapon – a pillow – in the case. Calls to his attorney, James Riley, had not been returned by publication, but Riley’s colleague Stuart Gordon told the newspaper the charges were “overblown”.
Chahal, who calls himself a “die hard entrepreneur,” often seeks the spotlight. He has appeared on the “Oprah” show and was called “America’s most eligible bachelor” by the television show Extra.
That said, Chahal often rubs people the wrong way.
Local
Blogger Owen Thomas called Chalal “egomaniacal,” and in a 2008 profile piece, NBC Bay Area reporter Scott McGrew took note of the entrepreneur’s glee in teasing friends afraid to step out on the balcony of his new skyscraper penthouse.
“During our interview inside his [still under construction] penthouse, Chahal declined to wear legally required safety equipment, preferring to look fashionable for the cameras,” McGrew said. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
Chahal is the CEO of online advertising company RadiumOne. When he was on ``Oprah'' in 2010, he was billed as one of the world's youngest and wealthiest entrepreneurs, having started his first company at age 16.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
