More than four years after charges were brought against her for duping investors and patients at blood-testing startup Theranos, ElizabethHolmes has been sentenced.
The founder and former CEO of Theranos was sentenced to 11.25 years in prison on Friday by a federal judge.
The mother of a one-year-old and is pregnant with her second child will begin her sentence on April 27th, 2023.
You need to take responsibility for Theranos. "My life's work was Theranos, I loved it, it was my life's work." I'm so sorry. I tried to save our company by giving everything I had.
She said she was devastated by her failures. I have felt deep pain every day for the past few years, because I failed them.
There are a lot of things I would do differently if I had the chance. I regret my actions with the cells of my body.
At the hearing, the prosecution and defense went back and forth on a number of factors, including the amount of money investors lost in Theranos and the extent of the scheme.
The loss to investors in share value was $121 million, according to the report. He said that it would be determined at a later time.
A years-long scandal that has gripped Silicon Valley has culminated in the sentencing. Theranos is a blood-testing startup that claims to be able to test for hundreds of diseases with one drop of blood. She brought on former federal government officials, US senators, billionaire CEOs, and even an ex-CDC chief as investors.
The world's youngest self-made female billionaire, with a net worth of approximately $4.5 billion, was named a visionary by many magazine covers and awards lists. The company had an estimated $9 billion valuation at its peak, and was hailed as having the power to change healthcare.
In 2015, the Wall Street Journal published a damning expose revealing that Theranos machines could only perform a small fraction of the tests advertised, and that the company was secretly using competitors' machines already on the market.
The FDA and the SEC are among the federal agencies that are investigating Theranos. She stepped down as CEO after the Department of Justice announced that she had been indicted for nine counts of wire fraud.
The trial started last year. The defense tried to shift the blame for the company's problems to other employees, including her ex-boyfriend and former right-hand man. Balwani's attorneys have denied allegations of physical and emotional abuse made by the woman during the trial.
Patients who testified about receiving inaccurate test results were among those called to the stand by the prosecutors.
In January, four of the 11 counts were found guilty of by a jury. The jury failed to reach a verdict on three counts relating to other investments, and was unable to reach a verdict on all patient charges. She faced up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count she was found guilty of.
130 letters from friends and family were submitted by her attorneys in order to get a maximum sentence of 18 months. The prosecutors wanted a 15-year prison sentence and a billion dollars in fines.
Silicon Valley's pervasive "fake it till you make it" culture has been blamed for the downfall of the one-time Silicon Valley star. In its lifetime, Theranos raised nearly a billion dollars.
Balwani was found guilty on all the counts he was charged with. On December 7, he will be sentenced.
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