Who's Anurag Bajpayee, billion-dollar tech CEO exposed for frequenting brothels
What's the story
Clean-water start-up Gradiant has stood by its CEO Anurag Bajpayee after he was arrested in early 2025 in a Boston-area prostitution sting operation. The start-up issued a firm statement defending Bajpayee and reaffirming its commitment to technological excellence despite the ongoing controversy. "We believe in the justice system and are confident that this will resolve favorably in due course." Bajpayee was one of several men arrested on misdemeanor charges; they allegedly paid up to $600 per hour for sex services.
Legal matters
Allegations and defense
The allegations were listed in court documents that were made public last month. They allegedly spent hundreds of dollars per hour for sex and a "girlfriend experience" with primarily Asian women who were exploited through sex trafficking, according to the Wall Street Journal. Cambridge City Councilor Paul Toner, a married politician, is also named in court filings and faces the same charges as Bajpayee.
Company statement
Gradiant's commitment amid controversy
Among the other elites on the list are "rich and powerful" customers spanning from professors and military officers to high-level government contractors, prosecutors said. Prosecutors claimed the brothel even provided a monthly membership to its most regular guests. All the defendants allegedly frequented a brothel ring based out of six luxurious residences in Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, and Washington, DC, suburbs.
Twitter Post
Alleged chats exposed
🇺🇸CLEAN TECH, DIRTY SECRETS: GRADIANT CEO LINKED TO HIGH-END BROTHEL
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) April 8, 2025
Anurag Bajpayee, once hailed for “world-changing” water tech, was named in a prostitution sting tied to a $600/hour high-end brothel near Harvard.
Clients — biotech execs, lawyers, and politicians — handed… https://t.co/buMdqSArBF pic.twitter.com/KPpPOFMTLw
Profile
Who is Bajpayee
Bajpayee is co-founder and CEO of Gradiant, a Boston-based advanced water and wastewater treatment solutions company. A cleantech star, he has taken Gradiant from being a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) spinout in 2013 to a global leader worth over $1 billion. Under him, it tackles critical water issues for the semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, mining, and food and beverage industries.
Education and recognition
Bajpayee's academic background and achievements
Bajpayee received a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, specializing in industrial desalination and water treatment. His thesis led to a membrane-free desalination method that was highlighted by Scientific American as one of the "Top 10 World-Changing Ideas." Gradiant provides water recycling, treatment, and purification solutions to some of the world's largest organizations, including Coca-Cola and Tesla. It claims that by operating as an end-to-end water firm, it assists businesses in reusing two billion gallons of water every day.