In 2014, the start-up for blood testing Theranos and its founder, Elizabeth Holmes, were at the top of the world.
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At the time, Theranos was a revolutionary idea conceived by a woman who was considered a genius and was said to be the female version of Steve Jobs. Elizabeth was the youngest woman in the world to become a billionaire on her own, Theranos being a start-up with an estimated value of $ 9 billion.
But this success did not last indefinitely.
The shortcomings and inaccuracies of Theranos technology were exposed, along with the role that Elizabeth Holmes played in covering them. She was fired as CEO and accused of “massive fraud”, and the company was forced to close its laboratories and testing centers, eventually shutting down operations altogether.
While waiting for the trial, Elizabeth married the heir of a hotel named Billy Evans.
Now that Holmes’ trial is underway, the jury’s selection began on Tuesday. If convicted, Holmes faces up to 20 years in prison, plus $ 2.75 million in fines, and restitution to pay the victims.
Elizabeth Holmes was born in 1984 in Washington to a wealthy family. In 2003 he entered Stanford University, where he studied chemistry. Being the best in her class in her first year, she received a scholarship for a research project.
In 2004, Elizabeth filed a patent for a device that allowed her to track the dose of medication on a smartphone. After leaving university, she founded Theranos.
He was only 19 years old and wanted to revolutionize the way blood tests are done. The company she founded promised a technology that would allow more than 1,000 tests to be performed with just one drop of blood in record time.
Elizabeth was said to have been severely affected by the death of an uncle. “For me, nothing matters more than what people go through when someone dear to them is very ill. The feeling of being helpless is heartbreaking and if I can create something that will change this, I will dedicate my life to this goal “, she wrote on the Theranos website.
At the time of Theranos’ founding, Elizabeth moved to Palo Alto, Silicon Valley, where she used the money her parents had raised for her studies. It quickly attracted investors and raised about $ 700 million.
In 2014, the company was estimated at $ 9 billion, making Elizabeth Holmes, the main shareholder, a billionaire with a fortune valued at $ 3.6 billion.
Elizabeth was named Forbes magazine a year later as the youngest millionaire to make her fortune on her own. Without benefiting from an inheritance, he succeeded on his own, with his own means, in just a few years.
The young woman was described as a woman who always works, without taking vacations and without having a private life. Invited to TED conferences, at the Clinton Foundation, the young woman is welcomed everywhere and even claims that she would collaborate with the Pentagon.
In 2015, however, everything changed. A journalist from The Wall Street Journal published an investigation into Theranos’ difficulties in exploiting the promised technology. The investigation revealed that the device created by the company was not, in fact, able to provide accurate analysis results and therefore employees used the same methods as in conventional laboratories.
Elizabeth begins a denial campaign. “This is what happens when you do something to change things: I think you’re crazy, then they fight you and suddenly you change the world,” she told CNBC television.
But the US Food and Drug Administration is beginning to take a closer look at Theranos. In 2016, Elizabeth Holmes was banned from working in the laboratory industry for two years, and the Theranos center was suspended.
Forbes magazine revises its estimate of the net worth of Holmes’ fortune a year ago to zero, and Fortune magazine nominates it as “The World’s Most Disappointing Leader.”
In 2018, the US Securities and Exchange Commission officially indicted both Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes for fraud. The young entrepreneur resigns from the position of general manager of the company she had founded. He is not allowed to run a listed company until 2028.
Theranos was officially closed in 2018.
Theranos ‘credibility has been attributed in part to Elizabeth Holmes’ personal relationships and ability to gain the support of influential people, including Henry Kissinger, George Shultz, James Mattis and Betsy DeVos.
Elizabeth Holmes must now be held accountable in court for the facts she is accused of: she deceived investors. The trial began on August 31 and could last at least 13 weeks. She faces up to 20 years in prison, plus millions of dollars in damages.
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