Financial crimes Elizabeth Holmes was the youngest female billionaire in the world, now facing 20 years in prison – thus ending the rise of the Queen of Blood

Silicon Valley pet. New kinder Steve Jobs.

With such words to the founder of the Theranos blood testing company Elizabeth Holmes was referred to in the 2010s, when a cloak of a new era and the humble benefactor of a modest benefactor bringing a revolution in health care were placed on his shoulders.

During the annealing and big promises, Holmes managed to inflate the company he founded in 2003 to billions of dollars and his own assets to become the youngest female billionaire in the world.

In the summer of 2015 Theranos value was estimated nine billion dollars. At the time, 31-year-old Holmes, who owned half of the company, rose to the Forbes magazine’s list as the richest woman in the United States to acquire her own wealth.

Later it turned out that Theranos was never able to get what Holmes had dreamed of. Theranos equipment and tests did not work. Holmes kept the matter secret for a long time, citing trade secrets.

In 2015, problems began to erupt in the light of day. First, a Theranos employee said the company’s testing device didn’t actually work as promised. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) then wrote that the company had done much of its testing with equipment developed by other companies.

Eventually, Theranos was first banned and shut down in 2018.

This week At the beginning, Holmes was convicted in court of four fraud-related offenses.

A total of 12 charges had been brought against Holmes. Some were released and one was abandoned during the trial. Some of the charges are due to be dealt with later.

The judgments now handed down relate to defrauding investors. Holmes was seen as innocent in allegations of cheating on Theranos patients.

Holmes faces up to 20 years in prison. However, similar long-term prison sentences are seldom imposed for similar financial crimes.

The length of the judgment will not be known until later. The Wall Street Journal by this can take about six months or more. Holmes is expected to appeal his sentences.

Theranosin was supposed to revolutionize health care.

Holmes founded Theranos after he dropped out of chemistry at Stanford University at the age of 19. Holmes, known as vegan, has said he is afraid of needles. That’s why he wanted to develop a simpler way to do blood tests: by collecting a few drops of blood from his fingertips.

“A tiny needle that takes just a tiny drop of blood,” Holmes described in The New York Times by in the early stages of the business.

The goal was to create a cheap and easy way to replace expensive and heavy blood tests.

Holmes ’vision was solid and his sales skills were compared to those of Steve Jobs. He was inducted into the company’s board of directors, including generals, senators and two former U.S. foreign ministers. The huge Walgreens pharmacy chain became one of the business partners. Among other things, the media mogul invested in Theranos Rupert Murdoch.

Last fall, in a lawsuit that began after several postponements, the prosecutor said Holmes would have started the fraud back in 2009 when, among other things, drug giant Pfizer’s interest in Theranos ceased.

Thus, Holmes would have ended up covering up Theranos ’big problems for several years. The tests were not what had been promised, which Holmes could not admit.

Contrary to tradition, Holmes also testified in his own trial, which was seen as a risky choice. He made his statement over several days.

According to a WSJ report, Holmes told his story in a clear and confident voice, smiling and even laughing a few times. The performance was reminiscent of a time when Theranos was still on the rise.

Holmes said he regretted some of his business decisions and admitted he had made mistakes. At the same time, he also blamed others, such as the marketing office, Theranos laboratory management, and researchers for the mistakes.

Holmes was only sensitive during his statements when he spoke about his personal relationship with Theranos’ former chief operating officer; Ramesh to Balwan. According to Holmes, while the couple was dating, Balwani committed mental and sexual violence that weakened his relationships with friends and family.

In court, therefore, Holmes sought to turn his defense into an attack. First, Holmes claimed that Balwani had manipulated and harassed him and forced him to deceive investors. In the end, Holmes admitted that this had not happened.

A separate trial awaits Balwan. He is also accused of misleading investors and patients about the functionality of startup blood tests.

The Theranos trial has been one of the most followed cases in recent years. Documents, podcasts and books have been made about the rise and fall of the blood test company. More is also coming.

Silicon Valley and the startup world are based on big visions designed to revolutionize the world or create solutions to humanity’s big problems. Does Theranos ’story add to questioning and reduce our susceptibility to fooling around to the promises of charismatic characters for a better world?

At least the development of health-related innovations has not stopped, but on the contrary has accelerated. Health technology startups are now rising like mushrooms in the rain.

Prestigious financial magazine The Economist raises this year The list of key technology trends includes numerous health-related development projects, including even more accurate health monitoring, new mrna vaccines, 3D-printable implants, customized nutrition through applications, and sleep technology.

Blood-related technologies are also being developed. In Finland, for example, Terveystalo offers a service whose wellness application is based on the blood tests of the Finnish health technology company Nightingale Health.

HS tested a service whose usefulness for an ordinary, healthy person is controversial and the results are round.

What is clear is that Theranos was not the end of commercial blood testing, nor was Holmes the last visionary of health technology.