Silicon Valley success stories pile up with resounding dips or a mix of both. led by one of them The ‘beautiful girl’ Elizabeth Holmes, shoulder to shoulder with figures like the former US president Bill Clinton. Your revolutionary blood test initiative, teranosmanaged to reach A valuation of $9,000 million. No one ever imagined that the call to be Steve Jobs’ successor and not just because of his enthusiasm to wear black turtleneck sweaters like him, had formed a lie around the company. A jury in San José Court in California found Elizabeth Holmes guilty of defrauding her investors in January of this year, and now Judge Edward Davila has determined the sentence: 11 years and 3 months in prison.
Besides going to jail, Theranos founder and former CEO will also have to pay. Fines between $400 and $100 for each fraudulent charge. His lawyers were able to reduce the sentence demanded by the lawyers defending the Government, who demanded 15 years in prison and a total fine of $250,000.
During his speech, Holmes offered an apology to Theranos employees, investors and former patients: “I’m so sorry. I gave my all to build and save our company. I regret my failures in every cell.” He also reassured, visibly impressed, that the company is “my life’s work” and that he “loves and respects” the people he tries to relate to.
The rise and fall of Theranos
Elizabeth Holmes from a very young age He wanted to follow in the footsteps of Steve Jobs and create something devastating enough to revolutionize history. Her hard work and dedication during her high school years enabled her to study chemical engineering at Stanford University, honoring her great-great-grandfather, surgeon, and inventor. There he was part of the prestigious “Presidential Scholarships”, the small group of students who received the best grades in their course. In the summer, Holmes interned at the Singapore Genome Institute, thanks to his knowledge of the Mandarin language.
The original idea of ​​Theranos was developed by him. fear of needles. Just 19 years old, Holmes designed a device that analyzes blood from the extraction of a drop.. All it took was a finger prick, similar to the one used to measure sugar. He demonstrated his invention to university professor Channing Roberson, who encouraged him to continue with the idea. This was the impetus Holmes needed to drop out of college and persuade his family to invest the money set aside for his education in the startup Theranos.
She became the CEO of her own company in 2003 and has managed to rise as a role model for women in Silicon Valley. At the age of 20, he broke the glass ceiling, which seemed to be unchangeable in the technological world.. Like his idol Steve Jobs, he always dressed in black, attracting top government officials and reputable companies. Some of the most well-known names were former US Secretary of State. Henry Kissingerlost $3 million, Rupert MurdochThe United States Secretary of Education under Donald Trump, who invested $125 million, Betsy DeVo’sThe one who entrusted 100 million to his family.
But the truth is scam has been brewing since 2006three years after his birth. The engineers and chemists who were part of Theranos were unable to operate the device, and the pharmaceutical companies wanted to see a demonstration to vouch for Holmes. That same year, the company’s CEO made a demo called Edison for the system to work during a meeting with Novartis, thus securing the funding he needed.
From then on, Theranos was surrounded by secrecy: if someone broke into headquarters, they had to sign a confidentiality document and no employees were allowed to discuss their work, not even with colleagues from other departments of the company. In 2009, Holmes’ secret partner Ramesh Balwani joined the company and served as COO until Theranos stepped down in 2018. The device was still not working and their blood tests gave wrong or incomplete results endanger the lives of his patients.
Theranos came to an end in 2016. The grandson of the company’s board member and former US Secretary of State, George Schultz, revealed the conspiracy to The Wall Street Journal after working in the company’s lab for three years. A visit to the Theranos labs by CMS, the federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Social Services, forced the company to cease operations. Two years later, Theranos closed its doors and its superiors, Elizabeth Holmes and Sunny, faced a total of 11 charges, including fraud and conspiracy.
Source: Informacion
James Sean is a writer for “Social Bites”. He covers a wide range of topics, bringing the latest news and developments to his readers. With a keen sense of what’s important and a passion for writing, James delivers unique and insightful articles that keep his readers informed and engaged.