Jurvetson quits VC firm DFJ, on leave from Tesla amid harassment probe

(This version of the November 13th story corrects paragraph 3 to remove incorrect reference to SpaceX being owned by Tesla)

(Reuters) - Steve Jurvetson on Monday resigned from venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) and took a leave of absence from the boards of Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) and SpaceX amid an internal probe into sexual harassment allegations made against him.

Jurvetson, founding partner of DFJ, denied the allegations and said in a tweet on Monday, "I am leaving DFJ to focus on personal matters, including taking legal action against those whose false statements have defamed me." (http://bit.ly/2zVC0Zx)

DFJ, which has invested in SpaceX, said three weeks back that it had started an independent probe after it came to know about "indirect and second-hand allegations" against Jurvetson.

"As of today and by mutual agreement, Steve Jurvetson will be leaving DFJ," a spokeswoman for the Menlo Park, California-based firm said in an e-mailed statement.

A Tesla spokesperson said by e-mail, "Steve Jurvetson is on a leave of absence from the SpaceX and Tesla boards pending resolution of these allegations."

(Reporting by Laharee Chatterjee in Bengaluru and Heather Somerville in San Francisco; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

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