A billionaire Democratic donor has been accused of trying to coax a couple in his employ to have orgies and threesomes with him and another woman.
Hansjorg Wyss, 89, also allegedly exposed himself to Madison Busby, 30, ‘brazenly groped’ her and made several other unwanted sexual advances, according to a lawsuit filed in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court.
Busby finally decided to quit Wyss’ Halter Ranch until July 2024.
She now claims she deserves compensation for damages, including ‘lost earnings, back-pay, future-pay, lost employment benefits and unpaid wages.’
‘Madison has suffered severe motional distress from the harassment which took place over the course of many years and also from lost wages and then future damages,’ her attorney, John Ly, said in a statement.
‘She’s been harmed immensely.’
Busby’s lawsuit claims she first met Wyss in 2019, when her now-husband, Bryce Mullins invited her to meet his boss. Mullins was working at Halter Ranch in Paso Robles, California as a general manager and living on the property.
At that very first meeting, Busby claims Wyss – who has an estimated net worth of $4.8 billion and lives in Wyoming – ‘deliberately placed his hand on Ms. Busby’s butt and groped her.
‘Mr. Wyss proceeded to tell Mr. Mullins, in Ms. Busby’s presence, about how “good” Ms. Busby’s butt looked in the dress she was wearing,’ the lawsuit alleges. ‘A few nights later, Mr. Wyss suggested to Ms. Busby that she wear the same dress again because it looked “sexy” on her.’
Hansjorg Wyss, 89, has been accused of trying to coax a couple in his employ to have orgies and threesomes with him and another woman
At the time, Busby claims she had hoped it was a one-off statement.
But soon, Wyss’s creepy behavior escalated, according to the lawsuit.
It says Wyss ‘made several sexual propositions’ at subsequent meetings, but Busby did not want to speak up at the time because she did not want to jeopardize Mullins’ standing with the company.
Meanwhile, Busby and Mullins’ relationship grew more serious – and she moved in with him on the property in 2021.
Their home life, though, allegedly became crowded as Wyss would stay in the house with them whenever he visited the Paso Robles property.
On several occasions, Wyss would even undress in front of Busby and Mullins – and invite them to remove their clothing as well, she claims.
Still, when she was offered a job as a project manager at the winery, Busby accepted the offer.
The lawsuit was filed by Madison Busby, 30, who worked as a project manager at Wyss’ Halter Ranch winery in Paso Robles, California
Her suit claims she had moved in with her then-boyfriend, Bryce Mullins, on the property – and Wyss would regularly stay over and expose himself to the couple
For years afterward, Busby said Wyss would continue to make sexual advances at her – both alone and in front of Mullins.
‘Mr. Wyss told Ms. Busby how much he enjoyed having a threesome, even with another man,’ the lawsuit states.
‘He even suggested a “foursome” and stated that it would be “fun” for the three of them and another woman by the name of “Lori.”‘
Wyss also allegedly told Busby about his own sexual experiences, including several affairs and even a story about him and Lori meeting a man in a movie theater in his native Switzerland, initiating oral sex with him and then having a threesome at Lori’s apartment.
‘He further said that Americans were “too uptight” around having those affairs,’ the lawsuit claims.
Wyss allegedly then went on to mention Lori once again when he ‘shoved his iPad in Ms. Busby’s face’ to show Lori wearing ‘shear, black lingerie’ on FaceTime.
He then went on to question Mullins and Busby about their sexual preferences and even ‘asked Ms. Busby about her favorite sexual preferences,’ the suit claims.
On a business trip in January 2021 – shortly after Busby joined the staff at the winery – he also allegedly suggested ‘if Bryce is not behaving, you can join me in bed.
She now claims she deserves compensation for damages, including ‘lost earnings, back-pay, future-pay, lost employment benefits and unpaid wages.’
By 2022, Wyss even allegedly told Busby ‘If you ever went after me for sexual harassment, you would win.’
Still, Busby says she kept her mouth shut out of concern for her and Mullins’ careers.
But privately, she says she spoke to Mullins after they got married and had a baby – and the two agreed to move into a smaller house on the property, which did not have enough room for Wyss to stay over.
At that point, though, Busby claims Wyss began to demand they pay $1,650 in monthly rent – even though the prior tenant was only paying $300 a month, and they were living at the larger house free-of-charge.
When Busby then returned from maternity leave in 2023, she claims Wyss told her and her husband they were both being overpaid – so Busby decided to voluntarily reduce her salary from $75,000 to $65,000 ‘fearful of any more retaliation’ as she sought treatment for anxiety and stress.
Busby ultimately decided to resign in July 2024, sending the company a formal complaint, denouncing the ‘inappropriate behavior and misconduct’ Wyss inflicted on her and her husband.
Mullins has also filed his own lawsuit against his former boss (pictured)
Hansjorg Wyss: The low-profile Swiss billionaire who became a force in US politics
Born in the Swiss capital of Bern in 1935, Wyss was raised in an apartment with his two sisters.
He received a master’s degree in civil and structural engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich in 1959 before going on to earn an MBA from Harvard six years later.
After spells in textile engineering – including in different roles for car manufacturer Chrysler in Pakistan, Turkey and the Philippines – he worked in the steel industry and ran a side business selling planes.
Through that side focus, Wyss met a surgeon who had co-founded Synthes, a medical device manufacturer. Spotting an opportunity, the Swiss founded and became president of Synthes USA in 1977.
He was Synthes’ worldwide CEO and chairman until his resignation as CEO in 2007, and was company chairman until Johnson & Johnson – the medical company which developed a Covid vaccine – acquired the company five years later for $19.7 billion.
In 2008, he donated $125 million to Harvard University, in what was then the largest donation in its history.
But he has generated controversy for his funding of groups looking to exert behind-the-scenes influence on American politics.
These include the Hub Project, which seeks to ‘dramatically shift the public debate and policy positions of core decision makers’ by influencing media and public opinion in a ‘progressive’ direction.
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Mullins has also filed his own lawsuit against his former boss, claiming Wyss failed to honor a promise of equity in Halter Ranch that would have grown to at least $30 million, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
He describes how the Swiss billionaire coaxed him away from his life and finance career on the East Coast to help run Halter Ranch and make it profitable.
Mullins said in his suit that he was reluctant at first to accept the job, as a business professor warned him ‘that Halter Ranch’s problems – stemming in large part from Mr. Wyss’ emotional decision-making and outsized ego – were not ones Mr. Mullins would be able to remedy.’
Yet Wyss’s alleged promise that Mullins would ‘have full control of the Halter Companies upon Mr. Wyss’s death’ was too enticing, and Mullins became Halter Ranch’s vice president and general manager.
That all ended after his wife sent her complaint email, Mullins claims.
He said Wyss ‘abruptly terminated’ his employment and offered a severance package that required him to release his claim on the equity in the business.
Wyss has not yet responded to either lawsuit, but executives at Halter Ranch have denied the claims.
‘The allegations in the complaint are not true and we intend to vigorously advance the facts that surround their time at the winery and their departure,’ they said in a statement.
‘For almost five years, starting in 2019, Mr. Mullins and his current wife voluntarily made themselves part of the Halter Winery community and took advantage of its owner’s generosity,’ they continued.
‘This included deciding to become employees of the winery, choosing to live at the winery rent free for years, frequently traveling with the owner to Europe, the Caribbean and elsewhere at the owner’s expense, asking the owner and his wife to host their wedding party and inviting the owner to serve as Best Man.
‘Through all these years, they never complained about the owner’s conduct, or simply declined to spend so much time with him, until after they voluntarily left their employment at the winery in 2024.’
Wyss is a Swiss national who has an estimated net worth of $4.8 billion and lives in Wyoming
However, this is not the first time Wyss has been accused of sexual harassment.
In 2013, he settled out of court for $1.5 million with a Colorado woman who claimed she suffered sexual abuse for years as an employee at the Wyss Foundation, according to the Daily Caller.
She had claimed she had to have sex with Wyss in order to get him to fund grants to nonprofits that focused on at-risk youth and sex trafficking.
Years before, another former employee filed a federal suit against him, claiming he created a hostile work environment at Synthes – a medical device manufacturer he founded to make implants to mend bone fractures.
She wound up losing the case claiming employment discrimination, but the judge noted that the sexually offensive incidents she cited were ‘undisputed by the defendants’ including Wyss, the Daily Caller reports.
Wyss has become a major donor to left-leaning causes. He is pictured here with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg at Oceana’s 2015 New York City benefit at Four Seasons Restaurant
Still Wyss has become a major donor to left-leaning causes.
His Wyss Foundation has also donated over $807million in the United States since 2016, with much of it going to either environmental causes or to support the environmental efforts of Joe Biden’s presidency.
The foundation has a specific arm for lobbying and political advocacy called the Berger Action Fund, which has donated $343million to groups trying to stop Republican gerrymandering efforts, as well as Democrat-aligned super PACs.
In fact, over $60million of the Berger fund’s $72million went to drumming up support for Biden’s programs.
Many of his donations also went to trying to stop President Donald Trump in his first term and his successful nomination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh
The Wyss Foundation and BAF, however, have claimed that they never directly donate to campaigns or candidates – which is prohibited by federal law as it is believed Wyss is still a Swiss national with no US citizenship.
His daughter Amy, though, has previously served on the board of the Wyss Foundation and is a US-Swiss dual citizen.