Elizabeth Holmes, the former CEO of Theranos, will stay in prison after a federal appeals court upheld her fraud conviction. Holmes tried to challenge the ruling, claiming there were mistakes during her trial about lying to investors regarding her company’s blood-testing technology. But the court found she could not prove any legal errors occurred.
Alongside her, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, her former partner and business associate, also had his conviction upheld. Both Holmes and Balwani have been ordered to pay $452 million in restitution.
Holmes, who is 41 and a mother of two young children, has been serving her 11-year sentence since May 2023 at a federal prison in Texas. She is expected to be released on March 19, 2032. Balwani, now 59, received a nearly 13-year sentence and is scheduled for release in 2033.
During her time as CEO, Holmes attracted significant attention and investment by claiming that Theranos developed a groundbreaking device that could test for various diseases with just a few drops of blood. However, the technology was never proven to work, leading to widespread controversy and legal challenges.
Holmes and Balwani argued in their appeal that errors occurred during their trials, particularly regarding the testimonies allowed by the court. However, Judge Jacqueline Nguyen ruled against these claims, stating that they failed to demonstrate any substantial errors by the lower court.
During her rise in Silicon Valley, Holmes was often compared to tech giants like Steve Jobs. She raised nearly $1 billion from influential investors, including Larry Ellison, Rupert Murdoch, and the Walton family. Holmes also had a star-studded Theranos board, which included prominent figures like former Defense Secretary James Mattis and two former secretaries of state, Henry Kissinger and George Shultz.
The truth about Theranos emerged in 2015 after investigative pieces in The Wall Street Journal highlighted significant failures in its technology. This scandal is now considered one of the largest in Silicon Valley’s history and has been depicted in various media, including books, documentaries, and a television series.
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Source linkElizabeth Holmes, San Francisco, Larry Ellison, Jacqueline Nguyen, Fraud, Legal proceedings, General news, CA State Wire, Steve Jobs, Medical devices, Technology, Henry Kissinger, Ramesh Balwani, Health, George Shultz, Rupert Murdoch, Business, U.S. news, Courts, James Mattis
