…By Henry George for TDPel Media.
Elizabeth Holmes, the former CEO of Theranos, has been ordered to begin serving her 11-year prison sentence while she appeals her conviction.
A San Francisco court made the ruling, putting an end to the temporary halt in proceedings.
Holmes was found guilty last year on four counts of fraud related to her failed blood-testing startup.
She had deceived investors into believing that Theranos had developed a revolutionary machine capable of conducting complex blood tests with a single finger prick.
However, her deception was exposed, leading to her conviction and a prison sentence of over a decade.
Holmes’s appeal to remain free while challenging her conviction was rejected by US district judge Edward Davila.
The judge stated that Holmes had failed to provide any evidence suggesting that her appeal could result in a new trial.
Consequently, a new date will be set for Holmes to begin serving her sentence.
Additionally, Judge Davila ruled that Holmes, along with her former partner at Theranos, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, must jointly pay $452 million in restitution to the victims of their crimes.
The Notorious Theranos Scandal and Media Adaptations
Elizabeth Holmes’s rise and fall, along with the scandal surrounding Theranos, has captivated public attention and inspired various media adaptations.
Bad Blood, a feature film starring Jennifer Lawrence and directed by Adam McKay, is currently in development.
The Dropout, a Hulu miniseries featuring Kate McKinnon, was released in 2022.
Holmes’s sentencing and the making of the Hulu miniseries were the subjects of Apple podcasts.
Additionally, an HBO documentary titled The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley premiered in 2019, while the book Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup was published in 2018.
Who is Elizabeth Holmes?
Elizabeth Holmes, born in 1984 to a wealthy family in Washington, DC, conceived the idea for her company, Theranos, while studying at Stanford University.
Despite being told by her professor that her idea was impossible to achieve, she launched Theranos and continued to deceive the public for years about the capabilities of her blood-testing technology.
Holmes positioned herself as a female counterpart to tech icons like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, even imitating Steve Jobs by wearing black turtlenecks and adopting a deeper voice.
Current Whereabouts and Legal Proceedings
As of November, Elizabeth Holmes resides in a luxurious nine-bedroom estate worth $135 million in California, along with her husband, their baby son, and two dogs.
She is married to Billy Evans, who works in the tech industry and is eight years younger than her.
Holmes has appealed her 11-year prison sentence, which resulted from her conviction on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy.
During her trial, she repeatedly responded with “I don’t know” and revealed that she and Balwani had been in a romantic relationship.
They were released on bail and had to surrender their passports.
Fluctuating Net Worth
At its peak, Theranos was valued at $10 billion, and Elizabeth Holmes was regarded as the youngest self-made female billionaire with an estimated net worth of $4.5 billion.
However, following the exposure of the Theranos scandal in 2016, Forbes reevaluated her net worth to be zero.