Eight years after infamous blood-testing startup Theranos began to implode, its founder, Elizabeth Holmes, is now in prison.
On Tuesday afternoon, Holmes reported to a minimum-security women’s prison in Bryan, Texas, about 100 miles from Houston, where she grew up, to begin serving her sentence of 11.25 years, with an additional three years of supervised release. She was convicted last January on four of 11 counts of fraud and conspiracy.
Holmes’ life will change drastically at Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas. She’ll go from living in an estate she rents for $13,000 a month to a small cell with no door. She’ll be waking up at 6 am and working for as little as 12 cents an hour — a far cry from what she earned running Theranos. Prisoners at the facility are already anticipating Holmes’ arrival, and some even want to be friends, The Wall Street Journal reported.
As Holmes reports to prison, the 39-year-old leaves behind two children — a son born in July 2021 and a daughter born this February, both of whom she shares with her partner, William “Billy” Evans.
In 2003, Holmes dropped out of Stanford University at 19 to found Theranos and quickly became a star of Silicon Valley. She was once hailed as the next Steve Jobs and named the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire with a net worth of $4.5 billion at one point.
Theranos quickly attracted high-profile investors and board members including former US senators, presidential cabinet members, and billionaire CEOs.
Though Theranos was lauded for its potential to revolutionize healthcare, it never delivered on its promises.
By 2015, federal regulators were investigating Theranos, and an exposé on the company from The Wall Street Journal prompted further scrutiny. Theranos shuttered in 2018, and the Department of Justice announced Holmes and Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani — her ex-boyfriend and Theranos’ former president and COO — were charged with nine counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Holmes duped investors and patients by exaggerating Theranos’ financials and falsely claiming its devices could run hundreds of medical tests with only a single drop of blood, prosecutors argued during her monthslong trial last year. The defense argued that Holmes was in the dark about much of the company’s finances and technology issues, and Holmes alleged she was abused and controlled by Balwani while CEO, which his lawyers have denied.
At her sentencing in November, Holmes said she was “devastated” by her failings at Theranos.
“I loved Theranos; it was my life’s work,” Holmes said tearfully. “I am so, so sorry. I gave everything I had to building and trying to save our company.”
“Every day for the past few years I have felt deep pain for what people went through because I failed them,” she added at the time. “Looking back, there are so many things I would do differently if I had the chance. I regret my failings with every cell of my body.”
Last January, Holmes was found guilty on four counts, all related to investors’ losses in Theranos. She was acquitted on four other charges, and the jury was unable to reach a verdict on the three remaining counts. She is still appealing her conviction.
Balwani reported to a California prison in April to begin his nearly 13-year sentence. He was convicted in July on all 12 charges brought against him.
Besides their prison sentences, Holmes and Balwani have been ordered to pay $452 million in restitution to victims of their Theranos fraud, namely investors like media mogul Rupert Murdoch and companies Walgreens and Safeway, both of which had partnerships with Theranos.
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