Elizabeth Holmes –The Celebrated Founder of Billion Dollar Company Theranos, is today a convicted criminal on counts of fraud and conspiracy, facing up to 20 years in prison.

 The sole purpose of any business is profit. (True)

That profit may be earned by unfair means (False)

While it is as simple as true or false, history tells us that it is very hard to implement for some in businesses. So many corporates, businessmen, entrepreneurs, prodigies, startups, conglomerates and tycoons have fallen prey to ‘greed’. To making more and more. To exponentially increasing the topline, to recording double digit and triple digit sales growth, to getting millions in funding overnight, to reaching the cover of Fortune or Time magazine in no time, to skyrocketing to success – sure there’s a lot of meaningin all of this, as long as the means are fair.

Enron, The Subprime Mortgage Crisis, Kingfisher Airlines, The Nirav Modi Scam and most recently The Theranos Story are prime examples of how greed got the better of some very dynamic leaders and visionaries.

The Theranos Model claimed that blood work for medical testing (covering over 240 tests) could be managed from a single drop of bloodfrom a patient’s fingertip – that too within minutes and at a fraction of the cost of generic blood testing. A next gen idea in theory, made funding, execution and visibility a breeze.

Magazine covers, interviews and paparazzizoomed in and dreamy black and white,like“What’s your blood group” made the headlines, building curiosity and share of mind.

All good!

But what actually happened, was a fraudulent claim. Not all the tests mentioned were being sampled from the finger prick mechanism. The accuracy of the test results was compromised as well. The technology promised did not work! And along with that, several other wrongdoings came to light.

Hidden truth. Doctored Documents. Non-disclosure. Non-transparency. Deception.

And what we recently saw was a long legal lawsuit.

Partner resignation. Establishment closure. Bank account freezes. Billion-dollar valuation down to ground zero. Investor withdrawals. Bad press. Judgement. Indictment. Broken dreams.

A timeline of the fall:

• 2014: Theranos raised $400 million.
• October 2015: Wall Street Journal investigating Theranos testing and techniques. Denied by Holmes.
• November 2015: Safeway who invested $350 million to build clinics pulls out of deal with Theranos.
• January 2016: Walgreens pulls out since Theranos fails to comply with Federal Standards.
• May 2017: FBI unspecified investigation. Holmes denied wrongdoing again.
• March 2018: SEC charges Holmes, and ex-president of Theranos with fraud.
• September 2018: Company announces dissolution.
• February 2021: Federal government accuses Holmes of destroying evidence.
• January 2022: Holmes guilty of investor defraud, wire fraud and conspiracy and is awaiting sentencing in September 2022.

Fortune Magazine covered her in their article titled “The world’s 19 most disappointing leaders”. Add to that an award-winning book titled “Bad Blood”, a podcast called “The Dropout” a documentary by the name of“The Inventor” and a feature film in development – all examining the rise and fall and fall of CEO Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos.

Holmes – the 19-year-old youngest self-made woman billionaire and a self-proclaimed mirror image of Steve Jobs. Her failure to engage in fair business practice saw her up against her vision, her investors, her company, her patients, her people and herself.

To sum it up, a billion-dollar rocket propelled in the right direction of healthcare got taken down by a greedy ballistic missile. That is the power of avarice.

Of wanting too much.Of rise and fall.Of true and false.

 Written By

Nikhil Sangha

Nikhil Sangha is a creative content writer, actor and voice over artist.

He has written social media content and shorts for brands like GQ, Coca Cola, MasterCard, Yes Bank Foundation, TLLLF – The Deepika Padukone Foundation, Bosch, Siemens, Škoda and HRX among others.