The history of Silicon Valley unicorn Theranos and CEO Elizabeth Holmes

Elizabeth Holmes, CEO of Theranos, attends a panel discussion during the Clinton Global Initiative’s annual meeting in New York, September 29, 2015.REUTERS/Brendan McDermidTheranos’ star was shining bright going into 2015. 

The darling blood-testing startup had racked up a $9 billion valuation with its big vision to test for a number of conditions off just a small sample of blood, and its CEO Elizabeth Holmes was featured on the cover of business magazines and lists of top executives. But then questions started being raised about how the company’s technology worked. 

As Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou details in his new book, “Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup,” the events leading up to the imminent downfall of the company started unraveling even years earlier. The book gives a behind the scenes look into the events propelled the biotech startup, Theranos, into chaos and deceit.

In June 2018, Holmes stepped down as CEO of Theranos, remaining with the company as a founder and chair of the board. She was also charged with wire fraud by the Department of Justice. On Tuesday, Theranos told investors that it was shutting down, The Wall Street Journal reported. 

Here are the events that contributed to the rise, the fall, the pivot, and now criminal charges of the once promising company founded by Holmes. 

By the end of the summer, it appeared to be the end of the line for the company itself. The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the company told its shareholders that it plans to formally dissolve. Theranos said it’s working to give Fortress ownership of the company’s patents, while its remaining cash would go to creditors.

Theranos

Source: The Wall Street Journal