The Rise and Fall of Elizabeth Holmes
A jury in the United States has held Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos founder, guilty. She planned to deceive investors in the blood-testing startup. It convicted her on 4 of 11 counts.
Elizabeth Holmes’ Rise and Fall
This 37-year-old lady entrepreneur was accused of doing fraudulent activities that involved her profess of reconstructing lab testing with a unique device that needed just a single drop of blood to carry out several different tests. She pleaded not guilty! Following is a detailed description of the primary events that paved the way to Monday’s verdict.
Theranos- The Story Started in 2003
It was 2003 when Holmes dropped out of Stanford University at the age of 19. She left her studies to set up Real-Time cures, which later became Theranos. She started to restructure the method of diagnostic testing.
2004 – The Success Story Started
The new company of Holmes managed to raise over $6 million in funding and reached a valuation of $30 million.
2009 – The partnership
In 2009, Holmes’ then-partner Ramesh Balwani, alias Sunny joined the organization, and he was appointed the Chief Operating Officer of Theranos.
2010 – The historic rise of Theranos
In 2010, Theranos received a further $45 million funding, which later reached a valuation of $1 billion.
2011 – More feathers were added to the hat
Different high-profile board members, including two former US secretaries of state, George Shultz and Henry Kissinger, joined Theranos.
2012 – The new office
The organization moved to Palo Alto, California, which used to be the former Facebook headquarters.
2013 – Theranos started promoting Tech
In 2013, Theranos started to promote its technology. The organization claimed that it holds the ability to run an array of different tests with a single drop of blood. To run the test, they would be using a machine named Edison. Well-known pharmacy group Walgreens Boots Alliance joined the venture as a partner.
2014 – The recognition
After raising more than $400 million in 2014, Theranos stood at the value of $9 billion. Forbes gave Holmes the recognition as a billionaire, which reflected her stake in the company.
February 2015 – The skeptic glimpse
Theranos faced the criticism of the American Medical Association as it failed to publish any of its research works in the peer-reviewed journals of the said association.
July 2015 – The approval
In July 2015, Theranos snatched the US Food and Drug Administration approval after it detected the herpes simplex one virus in a test.
October 2015 – The question
The Wall Street Journal came up with reports that showed the technology of Theranos is used for just a countable number of tests. Besides, their accuracy is also not trustworthy. Subsequently, the FDA released a finding which stated that the company used unapproved tools for running tests.
January 2016 – More grievances
The US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published a report which mentions that Theranos’ facilities reflect “jeopardy to patient health and safety.” It also said that an inspection was arranged, which showed that the facility had failed to meet its quality control standards. Additionally, they don’t have the right calibrating equipment.
June 2016 – The official breakup
Walgreens walked out of the partnership with Theranos in June 2016.
October 2016 – Things turned even serious
Partner fund management PFM, the investor of Theranos who put in approximately $100 million in the organization, accused the company of securities fraud. They claimed that Theranos lied about its technology just for the sake of securing investment. However, the case was later settled.
April 2017 – The new deal
In April 2017, Theranos reached CMS with the deal that barred it from the blood-testing business for the next couple of years.
March 2018 – Allegation of security fraud
Theranos, Holmes, and Balwani were charged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission with an allegation of security fraud. Holmes had to strip off her stake and control of the company.
June 2018 – Continuation…
Both Balwani and Holmes were put on criminal fraud charges. Both said that they were not guilty.
September 2018 – The Announcement
In September 2018, Theranos announced that it was going to dissolve.
March 2021 – The Good News
Holmes announced her pregnancy.
August 2021 – The Testimony Plan Revealed
Holmes’ child saw the light of the Earth. At the same time, a court filing stated that Holmes was planning to raise a dispute stating she was doing things under the influence of Balwani. He was abusive when the charged crimes took place. However, Balwani said that the allegations were fake.
September 2021 – Trial Started
The trial started in San Jose, California.
November 2021 – The Trial For Self-Defense
Holmes decided to testify. In her defense, she said that she never had the intention of misleading investors and patients. She also stated that Balwani used to take care of the financial models provided to investors, and he was extremely abusive in their relationship.
December 2021 – The closing statements
Closing arguments were placed from both sides.
January 3, 2022 – The conviction
Finally, the court convicted Holmes with the charges of doing fraud with three investors and conspiring to do the same with others. She was also announced guilty of defrauding patients who paid Theranos for testing.
She has also been acquitted of a related conspiracy charge. However, the jury couldn’t conclude on three counts related to individual investors. The sentencing date is also yet to be set. US district judge, Edward Davila, has sentenced Holmes to 80 years in prison for Holmes, but it’s expected that Holmes may get a sentence with less severity.
Takeaways
The rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes have left the entire United States overwhelmed. The nation started loving Theranos, and they were quite excited about the technology it talked of. It was being said thatThe Rise and Fall of Elizabeth Holmes was trying to channel Steve Jobs with her working uniform and this charming young lady managed to attract big-name supporters.
The name and fame she earned took several years to be established. But, her unjust greed diminished everything and probably left mankind in doubt when it’s about trusting someone from the core of heart. This unfortunate incident again proves the era-old saying – there’s no shortcut to success!
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