Who is Elizabeth Holmes, the businesswoman who cheated on Silicon Valley and why she is the protagonist of the “trial of the century”

When she was a child, a close relative asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up. At 9 years old, Elizabeth holmes, the American businesswoman who cheated Silicon Valley promising to detect diseases like cancer with a simple blood test, which ended in court, he answered without hesitation: “Millionaire”.

The response then elicited more smiles than concern. But the answer left no doubt about the little girl’s personality.

– Wouldn’t you rather be president?

– No, the president will marry me because I will have 1000 million dollars – he replied.

The anecdote was told by Jean Carreyrou, investigative journalist from The Wall Street Journal in his book “Bad Blood”.

Why was she brought to justice

Elizabeth Holmes, 37, misled many investors, some of them very powerful, after founding Theranos, a company that out of nowhere reached a valuation of $ 9 billion promising a revolutionary blood test technique. Several businessmen and politicians approached her to invest in the project, from former President Bill Clinton to various American Secretaries of State, seduced by the legend that was being built around the “new Steve Jobs”.

Specifically, he claimed to have the technology to detect diseases such as cancer or diabetes within minutes with a simple prick.

The lawsuit against the businesswoman began in early September in courts in San José, California. She is accused of defrauding clients and investors in her business. In the eyes of the American press, it is the “judgment of the century“Because its plot shows the fragility of the world of Silicon Valley, where companies are often built on simple houses of cards.

In case of being found guilty, Holmes you can be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison. She is charged with 12 counts of fraud. But she clings to her innocence.

A miracle of science

Holmes founded Theranos, a company that promised to diagnose dozens of diseases by treating a few drops of blood in state-of-the-art machines. Asserted that it would only take a few minutes to do the miracle.

The funds started pouring in this ambitious young woman who presented with great fanfare a project that promised fabulous returns in the right place: Silicon Valley, home to many emerging and global tech companies. But the plan never materialized and the money vanished.

“Failure is not a crime,” argued his lawyers.

How was the scam according to the prosecution

The trial, which is catching the attention of the American press, began after several postponements. It was first the coronavirus pandemic and then the pregnancy of Holmes, who became a mother last July.

The tax of the cause, Robert leach, wasted no time and presented as evidence a series of documents bearing the Pfizer laboratory seal. Holmes, still according to the prosecution, he kept his sleeve false reports which mentioned the approval of your project a group of 10 to 15 people pharmaceutical companies the largest on the market.

“Pfizer did not write this. He did not affix the logo on it or write this report, ”said the prosecutor.

The list of people who feel cheated is long: among those who have already testified at the trial is the general Jim Mattis, former Secretary of Defense during the Donald Trump administration. In his statement, he claimed to have invested $ 85,000 in the business.

From Silicon Valley to nonstop crash

At first, the company Holmes founded seemed destined to become one of those Silicon Valley success stories Hollywood so interested in.

The girl who wanted to be a millionaire came from a family of entrepreneurs What founded a yeast company in the early 20th century in the USA. One of his great-great-grandparents founded Cincinnati General Hospital and Cincinnati College of Medicine. Her father, Chris, worked in the State Department and government development agencies, while her mother, the daughter of a military graduate from West Point, was a legislative assistant on Capitol Hill.

At just 19 years old, this young woman of Hungarian blood made a drastic decision in her life: she put aside a scholarship of 3000 dollars per month and left her studies in chemical engineering at Stanford University. So that? To bet everything on a winner in the business world. So he founded a start-up that he called Theranos, a name that combined the words “therapy (therapy) and “diagnostic” (diagnostic).

Help from a key man

The contacts of his family facilitated his entry into the business world. But there was something that catapulted her to the top: the father of a childhood friend invested a million dollars in his business. It was about Tim draper, a household name in the business world and among venture capitalists who have decided to follow his flair for business.

Soon the name Holmes began to appear regularly in press articles, where she was described as a woman who went from nothing to success.

Investments started to rain on his head. Bill Clinton, the Mexican Carlos Slim or Rupert Murdoch were encouraged to bet on their future.

From ambition to deception

With millions in its coffers, Holmes’ company made its so-called scientific and technological breakthroughs known in 2013. It was selling a wonderful invention: a true revolution in clinical studies. Two years later, he already had nearly a billion dollars insured.

From there to glory there were only a few steps. She made her childhood dream and her name come true He entered the magazine’s exclusive list of millionaires Forbes. His fortune ? $ 4.5 billion and only 32 years old. She was then considered the youngest billionaire in the world. He had made his dream come true.

But a year later, the unexpected storm started which quickly turned into a hurricane. The magazine removed Holmes from its list in 2016 and various media began to question what was really going on with his business.

But how did the collapse start? A few clues emerged during the trial. It seems “someone “from the company began to alert investors that the project did not really exist.

When testifying in court, chemistry Surekha Gangakhedkar He said scientists were forced to validate the tests without going through any kind of studies.

One of the employees, Erika Cheung, said analysis machines that promised an analysis in minutes took up to 14 hours to calibrate and another 12 hours to program them with necessary quality control standards.

Holmes is not the only accused

But Holmes is not alone in the dock. The prosecution also filed a complaint against Ramesh balwani, a business partner and ex-boyfriend of Holmes.

According to BBC, woman’s lawyers will argue at trial that her ex-partner sexually assaulted her ylemotionally controlled at the time of the alleged crimes, affecting his mental state. But Balwani, 56, called the allegations “outrageous.”

Meanwhile, Holmes’ story promises not to end with the trial. Arrested then released on bail, married in 2019 William “Billy” Evans, 27, heir to the Evans Hotel Group. And they had a child in July of this year.

The Americans are following the trial closely. And the interest is increasing. For now, a TV series and even a movie about one of Silicon Valley’s most high-profile hoaxes are in the works.