Elizabeth Holmes: the resounding fall of the young woman who was called “the new Steve Jobs” EC Stories | WORLD

“The youngest billionaire in the world who forged herself,” according to Forbes magazine. The “next Steve Jobs,” christened her Inc., another business magazine that put her on the cover.

In 2014, Elizabeth Holmes, Then 30, was at the top of the world.

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After leaving his studies at Stanford University, he had founded a company valued at $ 9 billion, For allegedly causing a revolution in the diagnosis of diseases.

With a few drops of blood, the test Edison of the Theranos company it promised to quickly detect diseases such as cancer and diabetes without the need to use needles.

Big fish, from Henry Kissinger to Rupert Murdoch invested in it.

But by 2015, the project was starting to show the thread, and within a year, it was seen that Holmes ’idea was false.

The technology he promoted didn’t work at all, and by 2018 the company he founded had collapsed.

Today, Holmes, 37, faces 20 years in prison if found guilty of the 12 charges of fraud which are imputed to him.

Never before did he tell his side of the story.

His trial, which begins this month – the US vs. Elizabeth Holmes, et al – will be closely monitored. He is expected to plead not guilty.

And in a twist, it became known this weekend that her lawyers will argue that her ex-boyfriend and business partner, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, he sexually abused her and controlled her emotionally at the time of the alleged crimes, undermining her mental state.

Balwani, 56, who faces the same charges of fraud, called the allegations “outrageous.”

It will be up to a jury to decide with what compassion or harshness to judge the woman who cheated on everyone, from statesmen to secretaries.

Pressure from the start

Despite being the subject of a book, an HBO documentary, and an upcoming TV and movie series, it’s still unclear why Holmes took so much risk with a technology he knew didn’t work.

Holmes grew up in one wealthy family in Washington DC, And she was an educated but withdrawn girl, according to people who knew her.

Inventor and businessman Richard Fuisz, 81, speculates that there must have been immense pressure on her to succeed.

His family lived on Holmes’ side for years, but they quarreled when Theranos sued him over a patent dispute in 2011 (it was later resolved).

Holmes’ parents were for much of their bureaucratic careers on Capitol Hill (i.e., the U.S. Congress and the administrative buildings in and around them), but they were very interested in status ” and “they lived for connections,” Fuisz told the BBC.

His father’s great-grandfather was the founder of Fleischmann yeastHe changed the U.S. bread industry, and the family was well aware of his lineage, he said.

At the age of nine, young Elizabeth wrote a letter to her father stating that what she “really wanted out of life was to discover something new, something that humanity did not know was possible to do.”

When he arrived at Stanford University in 2002 to study chemical engineering, he had the idea of ​​a patch that could scan the user for infections and release antibiotics as needed.

At the age of 18, he was already showing an intransigence that, apparently, would continue to drive the company he would found the following year.

Phyllis Gardner, an expert in clinical pharmacology at Stanford, recalls having discussed the idea of ​​Holmes’ skin patch and telling her it “wouldn’t work.”

“She just stared at me but it was like she didn’t see me,” Gardner tells the BBC.

“And it seemed absolutely sure of its own brilliance. He was not interested in my experience and it was disturbing. “

meteoric rise

Months later, at the age of 19, Holmes left Stanford and cast Theranos, This time with a seemingly revolutionary way of analyzing blood with a simple prick of the finger.

Many powerful people were captivated and invested in the company without seeing audited financial accounts.

U.S. Treasury Secretary George Schultz, Marine General James Mattis (who later worked in the Trump administration) and the wealthiest U.S. family, the Waltons, were among those who give their support.

this land gave credibility, As well as their way of behaving.

“I knew I had this brilliant idea and I had managed to convince all these investors and scientists,” says Jeffrey Flier, a former dean of Harvard Medical School, who met with her for breakfast in 2015.

“She was confident in herself, but when I asked her several questions about her technology, she didn’t seem to understand,” adds Flier, who never formally evaluated her technology.

“It seemed a little weird to me, but I didn’t come out thinking it was a scam.”

Flier ended up inviting her to join the Medical School Fellowship Board, which she regrets, although Holmes was fired when the scandal erupted.

Unreliable results

It all started at sink in 2015 when an informant expressed concern about Theranos ’flagship test device, the Edison.

The Wall Street Journal wrote a series of condemnatory revelations in which he claimed that the results were unreliable and that the company had been using commercially available machines made by other manufacturers for most of its tests.

Lawsuits piled up, partners cut ties, and in 2016, U.S. regulators banned Holmes from operating a blood test service for two years.

en 2018, Theranos dissolved.

Abused or mistreated?

In March this year, Holmes reached an agreement for civil charges of financial regulators to fraudulently raise $ 700 million from investors.

But three months later it was arrested, along with Balwani, For criminal charges of electronic fraud and conspiracy to commit electronic fraud.

Prosecutors allege that she knowingly deceived patients about the evidence and greatly exaggerated the company’s performance in front of financial sponsors.

Holmes was released on bail and in 2019 she married William “Billy” Evans, 27, heir to the Evans Hotel Group hotel chain. They had one son in July of this year.

“I don’t think the fact that she is now a mother will influence the trial, but the judge is likely to take that into account if she is found guilty,” notes Emily D Baker, a former Los Angeles district deputy prosecutor and legal commentator who is linked to the case.

the trial

As the trial for the Theranos scandal approaches, commentators say it is remarkable how firmly it has clung to its original story and people who knew it say they doubt it has changed.

According to court documents, Holmes’ lawyers are willing to argue that “she believed that any alleged misrepresentation” about Theranos was true and that it was a “legitimate business that generated value for investors.”

They are also likely to argue that the alleged Balwani controlling behavior “It erased his ability to make decisions,” including his ability to “deceive his victims.”

They say Theranos ’former chief operating officer, who will be tried separately next year, controlled how he dressed, what he ate and who he talked to for more than a decade.

They will also testify to a psychologist who specializes in sexual abuse.

It is unclear whether Holmes will take to the podium.

“The most difficult thing in any case of fraud is prove that the person attempted to defraudBaker explains.

“So prosecutors will have to use her text messages and emails and argue that she knew the technology wasn’t working, but she said she did.”

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