Theranos’ Elizabeth Holmes found guilty of defrauding investors in blood tech startup
Global News
Prosecutors said Holmes swindled investors by convincing them that Theranos' small machines could run a range of tests with a few drops of blood from a finger prick.
A U.S. jury on Monday found Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes guilty of conspiring to defraud investors in the blood testing startup. Holmes was convicted on four of 11 counts.
She was acquitted on four counts and the jury could not reach a decision on three counts.
Prosecutors said Holmes, 37, swindled private investors between 2010 and 2015 by convincing them that Theranos’ small machines could run a range of tests with a few drops of blood from a finger prick.
Holmes was also charged with misleading patients about the tests’ accuracy.
Holmes rose to Silicon Valley fame after founding Theranos in 2003.
Wealthy private investors including media mogul Rupert Murdoch invested millions in the company after meeting with the founder who was known for her Steve Jobs-like black turtleneck.
The case has shed light on Theranos’ failed endeavor to revolutionize lab testing. The company secretly relied on conventional machines manufactured by Siemens to run patients’ tests, prosecutors said.
Theranos collapsed after the Wall Street Journal published a series of articles that suggested its devices were flawed and inaccurate. Holmes was indicted in 2018 alongside Theranos’ former chief operating officer Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani.
