Elizabeth Holmes, the former star of Silicon Valley, faces several years in prison. The former US blood test entrepreneur is found guilty of fraud.
San Francisco – She was considered one of the great up-and-coming stars of Silicon Valley. Now Elizabeth Holmes, founder of the US blood testing company Theranos, has been found guilty of fraud by a jury. The now 37-year-old has deliberately misled investors into investing money in their company with false claims about Theranos technology, judged the jury in their decision announced on Monday evening (January 3rd, 2022, local time) in San José, California.
How high the sentence against Holmes will be will not be announced by the federal court until a later date, but the entrepreneur faces several years’ imprisonment. However, Holmes was found guilty on only four of the eleven counts. On the remaining seven points, she was either acquitted or the jury disagreed during their seven-day deliberations.
Trial of Silicon Valley Star Elizabeth Holmes – “Revolutionary Technology” touted
In the USA, the more than three-month trial attracted a lot of public attention – not least because some observers consider Holmes to be a symbol of the high-tech center of Silicon Valley. Critics see it as a symbol for a corporate culture based on the motto “fake it till you make it”, which can be roughly translated as “pretend until you’ve done it”.
Elizabeth Holmes founded Theranos in 2003 when she was only 19 years old. The company used a supposedly revolutionary technology to advertise particularly fast, effective and inexpensive blood tests. Holmes became a billionaire through Theranos.
Elizabeth Holmes – Founder at age 19
The charismatic young entrepreneur Holmes has been celebrated as a tech pioneer for years. It won financially strong investors and prominent supporters such as ex-foreign minister Henry Kissinger and the media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Later, research by the Wall Street Journal found that their blood testing machines were not working at all.
Holmes rejected the fraud allegations in the process. She claimed to have believed in her company’s technology. She tried to shift some of the blame on to her former friend and business partner, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani.
Allegations of abuse by Elizabeth Holmes against ex-boyfriend and former manager
Holmes testified that she left the laboratory to the almost 20 years older Balwani, whom she had hired as managing director at Theranos. She was then shocked when the laboratory failed an inspection in 2016. In that year she also ended her relationship with Balwani and replaced the company management.
Elizabeth Holmes also accused Balwani of sexual abuse, with the latter vehemently denying the abuse allegations through his lawyer. The former Theranos managing director is to be brought to trial in a separate process. (ktho / afp)
