There is a reason that not a single one of her investors was a medical expert or had any training in diagnostics.
Fraud is so common in some circles that fraud done so well and to the scale that Elizabeth Holmes did it is admired, and this article certainly shows us that view. They admire her chutzpah.
Not to disillusion you, but that is the norm at most boards. The Board of Boeing, for example, has only 1 outside member with any knowledge of the aviation industry. Plenty of politicians, admirals, financiers, utility companies and a biotech exec.
Board appts are many times “retirement” income for CEO’s and execs.
I did not find the article overly sympathetic to EH much less admiring her. It is an essay showing how easily she can put her spell on the people around her. BTW, I did not think the writer fell for it. The last couple of paragraphs are quite telling:
“I appreciated their hospitality, but I didn’t fully understand it. Usually interview subjects can’t wait to get rid of me.
Then I realized why they kept opening the door wider. Ms. Holmes is unlike anyone I’ve ever met — modest but mesmerizing. If you are in her presence, it is impossible not to believe her, not to be taken with her and be taken in by her. Liz Holmes and Billy Evans know that. I politely declined their invitation.”
One and none are different. She purposely surrounded herself with people and money that wouldn’t ask intelligent questions. That’s not only unusual; it’s anathema in her purported field, that of biotechnology.
This type of fraud requires noticing the details and utilizing them to achieve the objective in a way that doesn’t attract much attention. Elizabeth Holmes was very good at it. Her biggest mistake was noted in the article- choosing an industry in which fraud would be more noticed by more people in a dramatic way, the healthcare device industry. This article almost looked like a how-to for aspiring corporate fakes.
It’s surprising to me that a long time reporter wouldn’t have met anyone like this before. Many self-made billionaires are like that in person, whether they are honest or not (so are many great politicians). Getting people to trust you with money is usually more important than anything else if you want to be a wildly successful entrepreneur. I’ve been on the receiving end a few times, I think of it as like Puss in Boots mesmerizing his opponents in Shrek:
PiB was the best at mesmerizing
While patient harm does and should take priority in the outrage and punishment arena, I can never forget the way the two whistle blowers ( Erika Cheung and Tyler Shulz) were pursued, threatened, and mentally/emotionally traumatized by sociopaths Elizabeth Holmes, Sonny B., and their unethical villainous lawyers. Tyler in particular was subjected to exceptionally malicious behavior. His parents had to sell their house to protect his interests. He should have sued the crap out of EH and SB for the torture they inflicted on him and his family. The manner in which EH, SB, and their complicit attorneys attempted to silence Tyler and Erika (for that matter, anyone who tried to bring ethics & reality to company behavior) reveals just how much they realized the depths to which they sank in order to defraud their investors and the public at large.
I have read/listened to most of the known media about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos. There are a number of interviews with her St. John’s teachers and fellow students and they all described her as an average student. Apparently her trip to China was some sort of “backdoor” acceptance into Stanford. Similarly, her fellow students and professors at Stanford did not consider her to be a standout intellect.
One of the overlooked aspects of this fraud has been the actions of of Theranos’s first investors. I’m convinced he they influenced Elizabeth Holmes with the “fake it until you make it” mantra and used the vehicle to enrich themselves, fully knowing it was a clown show.
I occasionally drive past the place she lives at in Woodside, CA. It’s a gated mansion. Perhaps the author of the article views it as a “quaint” gated mansion. It’s unlikely Holmes is using food stamps to feed her children. At least I hope that’s not the case, because if it is, she’s conning the government.
I read “Bad Blood”. As bad as Holmes comes off, Balwani comes off as much more dishonest and manipulative.
Theranos did get Walgreens to invest a lot of money. I don’t know if the people in Walgreens who made the decision to invest had much scientific medical or pharmaceutical training, though.
@nrdsb4, this is so over the top. I didn’t follow the stories you are referring to.
I thought anyone who reports anything illicit is protected by whistleblower laws. Maybe I’m just naive to think that people who speak the truth and bring up illicit behaviors will be protected.
However, given the amount of money involved and the powerful, elite connections of E. Holmes and investors, I don’t doubt that the whistleblowers were subject to harassment, mental/emotional trauma by E. Holmes and Co.
I hope the people you mentioned Erika Cheung and Tyler Shulz are doing ok now. It is really sad and unfortunate that they had to be the receiving end of such traumatic experience. Nobody that brings up fraudulent behaviors deserves that.
It belongs to her husband. They have not combined premarital debt, which is allowed by California law. I suspect her legal debts are premarital.
Husband is wealthy and can afford to feed his kids. No need for food stamps.
I don’t feel sorry for her at all. She is manipulating the legal system just as she manipulated her investors, the pharmacies, the customers. It is time for her to go to prison, just like many new moms and dads have done for centuries. It is hard for children to have parents in jail, but that’s the law. I assume she’ll be in a low security facility and her children will be allowed to visit.
I think it is amazing that I can go get a lab test (a vial, not just a drop) and the results are available to me online before I even get home from the clinic. People wanted to believe her product would work, and advances in medical testing move so fast to lay people like me, it COULD be possible. I didn’t believe it; I don’t even believe the lab test done at the actual lab with professionals drawing the blood and huge machines shaking the tubes and wires everywhere. Voodoo.
Photos used to have to be sent away for developing and then Fotomats sprung up in parking lots and you could get photos in an hour (with a 16 year old in a cute outfit performing the magic). Ti calculators cost $149 in 1972 and suddenly you could get one that fit in your wallet and cost about $10 I drive a 20 year old car that has too many computer chips for me. Electric cars? That’s George Jetson stuff.
Sunny Balwani has begun serving his prison time. Why is Elizabeth Holmes still sitting at home?
Because he’s not white and privileged?
@Owl1 There have been many accounts of how the whistleblowers in this case were harassed. Unfortunately.
Sunny is quite wealthy and privileged. He however can’t claim that he just gave birth and his newborn needs him. 
He was tried and sentenced first. He did receive a delay to report when he appealed, but his request to stay out of prison during the appeal was denied.
Elizabeth just filed her appeal, and to remain out of prison during her appeal. That request will probably be denied and she’ll have to report to prison.
Her request to remain out during her appeal was denied and she has to report on May 30. Her request to serve her sentence in California was also denied and she’ll be in Texas.
The reporters were aghast that her reason for wanting to remain out during appeal was that she is a mother. They pointed out that 60% of women in prison have children and that she was on trial (delayed because of covid) when her first child was born and already convicted when her second was born, i.e., she knew this could happen.
Because her defense council was able to use the legal system to argue for delays in her time served. This is more of a matter of being well connected and wealthy enough to pay for skilled attorneys than anything to do with her race or gender.
She certainly gave them every bit of ammunition they needed through her personal decisions. I wonder what’s in it for her husband.
Well, she did use her sex to plead for delaying her jail time. It just didn’t work to delay it until her kids were grown.