It was a decision that would not be settled with easily, however after months of deliberation a jury sentenced Elizabeth Holmes, CEO of Theranos, a blood-testing company, on Nov 18, to 11 years and three months for fraud charges.
Once adamantly known as the “girl-version Steve Jobs,” in 2010, the tech-entrepreneur promised a discovery of a crater that would evolve the performance of blood-testing through usage of a small sample rapidly and effectively screened for all diseases. Despite, investors began seeing signs of fraudulency with the company’s failure to provide a higher profit margin, and a continued list of patients who had received misdiagnoses for multiple diseases.
Holmes was funded over $700 million in capital for her health technology concept from venture capitalists and private investors, with a 9 billion value by 2014, fueling the startup process that included multiple meetups with now former investors and board of directors – Henry Kissinger, Jim Mattis, George Shultz, Robert Murdoch, Tim Draper, Larry Ellison, ATA Ventures and Walgreens – with more included partnerships with Cleveland Clinic, AmeriHealth Caritas and Capital Blue Cross.
In a San Jose court, Holmes, currently pregnant with her second child spoke forthright to a mixed room which consisted of her partner Billy Evans, “I am devastated by my failings,” Holmes said. “Looking back there are so many things I’d do differently if I had the chance. I tried to realize my dream too quickly.”
In 2014, the company’s founder was in a “secret relationship” with Mandarin program sweetheart and Theranos’ president Ramesh “Sunny” Balawani, who was also trialed on fraud charges in connection to Holmes — lawyers primarily used her tenure relationship with Balawi, whom she referred to as “psychologically and sexually abusive,” even consistently referring to her as a mediocre “little girl” keeping her on stringent diet, resulting in her lapse in judgment over the years. In July, Balwani was found guilty on all 12 fraudulent charges and is scheduled to be sentenced on December 7.
Early this year, Holmes was convicted by a California jury on four counts of fraud, each with a maximum sentence of 20 years, finding her not guilty on four other charges with failure to conclude on a verdict for three more charges. US District Judge Davila spoke candidly before delivering the final verdict:
“This is a fraud case where an exciting venture went forward with great expectations and hope only to be dashed by untruth, misrepresentations, hubris, and plain lies. I suppose we step back and we look at this, and we think what is the pathology of fraud? is it the inability or the refusal to accept responsibility or express contrition in any way? Now, perhaps that is the cautionary tale that will go forward from this case.”
Theranos partnership with Walgreens was praised robustly, including being inducted into Forbes 400: The Freshman, with mentions in comparison to Apple’s Steve Job, and Fortune’s “This CEO is Out for Blood,” and New York TImes “Five Visionary Tech Entrepreneurs Who Are Changing the World,” which praised the eccentricity of the company itself, and partnerships that had been inducted into the startup process, including the pharmaceutical company whose agreement included making testing available for 40 stores, however immediately upon placement and collective research, the deal ended when questions were raised about the authenticity of the test results.
Holmes has asked for retrial but was declined. She will began her sentence in federal prison on April 27, 2023.
Austin Urban Post 