Elizabeth Holmes was one of the most widely acclaimed innovators in the world. In the early 2000s, she established herself as an inspiration to women as a technology and science figurehead — but all of that changed when she was found guilty of fraud. Holmes’ company, Theranos, promised to provide accurate results in blood tests using its Edison machine that only required a drop of blood from a finger prick. However, journalists and other investigators eventually unraveled the truth behind Theranos. Eventually, the healthcare industry was slapped in the face by the company’s unearthed lies.
Since Holmes was the founder and one of the main executives behind Theranos’ fall from grace, she was convicted of wire fraud and conspiracy. Since 2023, she has been serving her 11-year prison sentence at the Federal Prison Camp Bryan in Texas. Despite living in prison, Holmes has maintained her marriage to husband Billy Evans, whom she shares two children with.
Below, News47.us has rounded up five facts about Holmes, from her childhood to her career.
Holmes was born in Washington D.C. She and her family eventually lived in Houston, Texas, where she attended high school. While she was still in high school, the then-teenage Holmes attended Stanford University’s Mandarin summer program before she eventually enrolled as an undergraduate student.
At just 19 years old, Holmes founded Theranos, which, at the time, was called Real-Time Cures. She was still at Stanford pursuing an undergraduate degree, where her professor, Dr. Phyllis Gardner, warned Holmes that her idea to provide diagnoses wouldn’t work with just a finger prick of blood.
After getting the support from several scholars, venture capitalists and politicians, including former Secretary of State George Shultz, Holmes dropped out of Stanford to focus on building Theranos.
After raising $400 million in venture capital, Theranos was eventually worth $9 billion at the height of its fame. Holmes’ company even partnered with Walgreens to introduce in-store blood collection centers. Since she succeeded in acquiring enough capital for the company, Holmes was recognized by Forbes as the world’s youngest female self-made billionaire. That, of course, changed once Holmes was convicted and ordered to pay more than $400 million in restitution to victims along with her ex-boyfriend Sunni Balwani.
