Elizabeth Holmes started out with a dream to democratise the American healthcare system – but it was a dream which quickly turned into a nightmare for everyone involved.
You may have heard her name of late, with Mean Girls star Amanda Seyfried portraying the 38-year-old in the Hulu miniseries, The Dropout – but that’s just one of many shows, documentaries, movies and podcasts that attempt to tackle the increasingly bizarre story of Elizabeth Holmes that, at times, is stranger than fiction.
Elizabeth’s story starts at 19-years-old when she dropped out of Stanford University and founded the now-infamous blood-testing startup, Theranos.
By 2014, Holmes had become the world’s youngest female self-made billionaire (only recently being succeeded by Kylie Jenner) with a net worth of $4.5 billion and was the star of Silicon Valley after pioneering a revolutionary device called Edison, a portable machine that she said would be able to detect a plethora of medical conditions simply using a single drop of blood from a pinprick test.
The entire idea was inspired by her extreme fear of needles, and it wasn’t long before the entrepreneur – who modelled herself as the female answer to Steve Jobs – was on every talk show and magazine, winning over powerful and wealthy supporters that ranged from the Clintons to Henry Kissinger, who all insisted the young CEO was changing the future of American healthcare.
The only catch was, she took money from investors on the condition that she wouldn’t have to reveal how Theranos’ technology worked.
So how did something so promising all come crashing down?
Love Film & TV?
Get the latest Film & TV news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
Well, after around $900 million had been invested into her product by some of the world’s wealthiest investors, including Rupert Murdoch and the Walton family, it was soon discovered that Theranos, basically, had been a lie – the technology simply did not exist.
Soon, the situation spiralled out of control and Theranos – and Elizabeth – began to crumble.
As bizarre as the entire situation is, it’s only the tip of the iceberg. The deeper you delve into the intriguing and enigmatic character that is Elizabeth Holmes, the more convoluted the tale of ambition, deception and greed becomes.
However, it seems that the failed startup founder may face comeuppance after all, with the news that on January 3, a Palo Alto jury found the Theranos founder and former CEO guilty on four of 11 charges.
Elizabeth will be sentenced on 26 September 2022. She faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.
She also faces a fine of up to $250,000, plus restitution for each count. However, her sentencing has been pushed back to allow for the trial of Rimesh Balwani, whose trial for related fraud charges began in March.
Amanda Kramer, a former federal prosecutor, said of Holmes’ upcoming sentencing, “I would be utterly shocked if she wasn’t sentenced to some term of imprisonment.”
For more on this topic, follow the Film & TV Observer.
