Who is ex-Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes and why is she on trial?
Elizabeth Holmes, ex-CEO of Theranos, is who?
- Holmes, an ex-American businesswoman, was the founder and chief executive at Theranos (a now defunct company in health technology).
- She was born in Washington DC in 1984 and grew up in Houston Texas.
- She became interested in computer programming during school.
- She later attended Stanford University, where she studied chemical engineering.
She also worked in a laboratory at The Genome Institute of Singapore during this time.
Through the collection of blood samples using syringes, she was able to test for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus.
What is Theranos?
Holmes was just 19 when he founded the blood-testing business.
It was a cost-effective way to perform dozens of blood tests using just one finger and a few drops of blood.
Holmes stated that she was motivated to create the company because of her fear of needles.
As a rising star in Silicon Valley that was often compared to Apple’s Steve Job, Holmes was fueled by that idea by almost exclusively wearing black turtleneck sweaters.
Holmes is accused along with Ramesh Balwani, ex-President of Theranos, and Holmes.
Why is Elizabeth Holmes being tried?
Holmes is facing nine wire fraud charges and two conspiracy to commit wire-fraud charges. She could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
She was accused of luring investors to fund her company, Theranos Inc.
Theranos, her diagnostics company, was launched in 2003. It promised faster results and was cheaper than traditional labs.
But miracle machines were supposedly ineffective after years of hype and billions of dollars later.
Holmes, according to prosecutors, knew this but continued to lie about it to doctors, investors, and patients in order to raise more than $700 million.
