Elizabeth Holmes, a Silicon Valley pioneer and the founder of Theranos (now-defunct blood-testing company), was found guilty after three months of federal court proceedings in San Jose.
Holmes was charged for 11 counts of fraud in connection with her deceitful acts towards investors and patients. She was found not guilty on four counts of wire fraud against patients. The jury also ruled that she did not commit wire fraud against investors. Bloomberg
Holmes’s fall from her status as celebrity chief executive to convicted felon marks one of the most dramatic descents in Silicon Valley history. The jury agreed Monday to a seven-day trial with prosecutors. The jurors found that Holmes had over the years lied about Theranos blood analysisr capabilities and accuracy.
Holmes became famous for promising a revolution in healthcare. Her claims that Theranos compact diagnostic devices would be able to perform hundreds of tests more quickly, accurately, and at a fraction of the cost of traditional larger machines made by large companies were based on Holmes’ claim of Theranos being able to do many of these tests quicker than conventional, larger machines.
Theranos’ analyzers were able to get the results using a single pinprick, rather than vials of blood. This was a big selling point. Holmes mentioned her own fears of needles in the inspiration of her invention. This was part of her long-term promotion of technology by investors and the public.
[In 2015]The Wall Street Journal reported on flaws found in Theranos’ technology. This led regulators to declare that the machines were a threat to patients’ health the year after the publication.
The revelations triggered civil lawsuits, including one Holmes settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Justice Department’s investigation and prosecution. Holmes, Balwani and Walgreens all still face claims over inaccurate blood tests by customers of the drug store chain in an Arizona lawsuit.
Holmes’ attorneys claimed she tried for fifteen years to make Theranos a success and, while she did not succeed, it was not because she was a criminal. However, several former Theranos employees testified about shortcuts the lab took to cover up the analyzers’ inadequacies.
Elizabeth Holmes, founder of Theranos’ blood test startup, was charged with 11 counts for fraud. Her lies to patients, investors and other parties to increase her profile and raise funds for the company were exposed to the public. Here’s what jurors decided:https://t.co/Ye6fA73Ucj pic.twitter.com/rAaviWrsuV
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 4, 2022
Holmes was a darling of Democrats in Silicon Valley and nationally…
FLASHBACK: @BarackObamaWhite House @HillaryClinton @BillClinton were completely fooled by convicted fraudster Elizabeth Holmes, honored her with awards https://t.co/RdwKCeNZtw
— Brent Scher (@BrentScher) January 4, 2022
…but you wouldn’t know that by following the mainstream media coverage, including this bit from the Bloomberg piece, which mentions James Mattis as a witness but, shockingly, doesn’t mention David Boies. None at all.
A parade of witnesses told jurors they were gravely misled by the Stanford University dropout-turned-entrepreneur. They ranged from executives at Walgreens and Safeway Inc. to James Mattis, the former U.S. secretary of defense who served on the Theranos board….
It’s as if they want to obscure Holmes’ tight connections to Democrats and emphasizing any connections she had to Republicans. As the Washington Free Beacon stated, Barack Obama, Bill, and Hillary Clinton utterly adore Holmes.
FLASHBACK: @BarackObamaWhite House @HillaryClinton @BillClinton were completely fooled by convicted fraudster Elizabeth Holmes, honored her with awards https://t.co/RdwKCeNZtw
— Brent Scher (@BrentScher) January 4, 2022
Hillary Clinton even planned a fundraiser with Holmes in March 2016, but when even lefty press called her out on it (Holmes was already in pretty deep water by then), the event was relocated to a tech bro’s house. Holmes was always front and centre.
Chelsea Clinton with Elizabeth Holmes, CEO at Theranos. pic.twitter.com/YHvY4HH2QP
— Ruby Cramer (@rubycramer) March 21, 2016
Perhaps Hillary was being influenced by David Boies, who was Theranos’s lead counsel? While a 2016 Vanity Fair article detailing the last days of Theranos notes the name of the law firm here, they weren’t quite digging at Boies himself:
[S]He was still confined to a conference area, with his inner circle. Half-empty food containers and cups of stale coffee and green juice were strewn on the table as she strategized with a phalanx of trusted advisers, including Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, then Theranos’s president and C.O.O.; Heather King, the company’s general counsel; lawyers from Boies, Schiller & Flexner, the intrepid law firm…
Current media accounts either don’t mention or gloss over the fact that former Georgia Senator (and Democrat) Sam Nunn and former defense secretary (and Democrat) William J. Perry were also on the board.
Holmes could spend up to 20 years behind bars. The judge hasn’t set a date for sentencing.
About Post Author
