In 2013 the whole world was astonished by the revolutionary idea of 30-year-old entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes, which would have started a new era of blood testings.

‘Edison’ – the machine of the future: compact, cheap, and paramount, with no more need for intravenous blood tests. It would allow the prevention of earnest diseases like cancer with a diminutive drop of vital fluid. Those promises were made by Elizabeth Holmes to investors that subsequently poured a fortune into Theranos (the company founded by her in 2003). Initial funding was raised by using family connections, accounted around $6 million.

In mid-2014 and the beginning of 2015, the net worth of the company was gradually raising, and reached the point of approximately $9 Billion, with Rupert Murdoch holding the biggest amount of shares worth $125 million.

The amount of money invested helped Elizabeth with vast success, by storming Silicon Valley with Theranos, she became the first female self-made billionaire in the USA with a net worth of $4.5 million.

What could have gone wrong?

In 2015 John Carreyrou, a journalist from Wall Street Journal, started his investigation after a tip-off from a skeptical pathologist. Not long time after this, all popular newspapers were full of controversial headlines.

The revolutionary idea was extraordinary fraud! The results of tests taken by the machine were misleading and in most cases not correct. Theranos’ invention simply did not exist.

‘It was not just business or corporate fraud, it is the one that had big implications for public health”,- John Carreyrou said.

After the investigation started in 2015, within a year Elizabeth Holmes was disclosed as a fake. By the end of 2018, the company felt apart.

In July 2018, she was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and ten counts of wire fraud. She was facing a maximum of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250 000.

However, the trial was not as smooth as it was expected, firstly it was delayed because of the pandemic of COVID-19, and this allowed Elizabeth Holmes to continue her game. In March 2021, the prosecutor received unexpected news that the defendant is 5-month pregnant. This led to even bigger delays.

“Being a new mother can only help get her sympathy from jurors,” – said Danny Cevallos, NBC News legal analyst.

However, the jury convicted E. Holmes of the investor wire fraud conspiracy count and three counts of actual fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud investors, with the wire transfer of approximately $140 million. Only on November 19, 2022, Elizabeth Holmes’ trial was finally settled, and as a result of it she was plead guilty and was sentenced to 11 years and 3 months in a prison.

This puts a bold period at the end of the Elizabeth Holmes saga and shows society, the danger of Silicon Valley culture that allows fraudsters to have an influential and leading voice.

To read more about the lates update of the court process:

To read more about the trial itself:

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/theranos-founder-elizabeth-holmes-found-guilty-investor-fraud