Theranos

About Theranos

Theranos was valued at 9 billion before collapsing when it was revealed that its blood testing technology did not work. Founder Elizabeth Holmes raised over 700 million from investors including Rupert Murdoch, Walgreens, and the Walton family. Holmes claimed Theranos could run hundreds of blood tests from a single drop of finger prick blood. In reality, Theranos used modified commercial machines for most tests. Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou exposed the fraud in 2015. Holmes was convicted of four counts of fraud in January 2022 and sentenced to 11 years in prison. Her business partner Sunny Balwani was convicted of 12 counts and sentenced to 13 years. Theranos dissolved in September 2018. The case became a symbol of Silicon Valley hype and investor due diligence failures.