The name of ElizabethElizabethHolmes was spelled by her hair down and makeup that was more subdued than her Theranos days. After the prosecution rested its case in the morning, the defense called her as their third witness. She wore a navy blazer with a white blouse, but not one of the famous black turtlenecks, which have been in court for months.
The founder and CEO of Theranos is facing 11 counts of wire fraud. We have already heard her voice in the recordings of Fortune journalist Roger Parloff. In those recordings, she is very confident about her device. The lies Parloff recorded were in line with what she told her investors.
So far, there hasn't been much to say.
I don't think I'm the only one who's wondered how she'll explain this. We are going to find out.
We have learned that she dropped out of Theranos, that she spent time at Stanford, and that she has a degree. Most of the juicy stuff will have to wait until next week because we were in 2006 before the government alleges any fraud.
Kevin Downey was smiling at his client. She was relaxed and focused. Everyone has inquired about her voice. Most of the writers in The Voice Discourse have no musical training. Inc wrote that she was not abaritone and that she would go up several octaves when she spoke normally. That is not true.
I like the way she sounds, though she has a habit of dropping her voice to emphasize something. She sounds like she has a cold, or maybe she is using her "impression of a stupid man" voice. She has had an affectation for so long that it is natural to her now. Most of her speech is within her range.
The voice is part of a famous character.
I expect we will hear more about the voice in the coming days. I will be surprised if the cross-exam is less than two days, as the defense has indicated that they expect to continue questioning her all next week.
The story that she told is well-known. She used the money her parents had saved from her college education, as well as some debt and money from family friends, to found a company called Real-Time Cures. She changed her name to Theranos.
The idea was to create a pill or patch that would analyze a person's blood, allowing for more precise medication doses. She switched her focus from a pill or patch to a blood analysis device because people were more interested in the device.
Don Lucas, an investor best known for his association with Oracle, was one of the people she raised money from. Lucas wanted to speak to some of the pharmaceutical companies Theranos had been working with as part of his due diligence, so we were shown a 2005 email where he was introduced to someone she had been working with at Pfizer. He said he would be happy to talk to Lucas.
With the money she raised, she created a device called Theranos 1.0, a photo of which was displayed for the courtroom, and which looked like someone had attached a thick antenna to a gray printer.
The business plan was to work with drug companies. She spoke to several companies. In September of 2006 and November of 2006 Theranos signed agreements. The company did demos for other companies.
We were shown an email from Holmes to the entire staff at Theranos. She wrote in the email that they nailed it. You all did a great job making this happen. We are going to do what we need to do in the next month.
In 2006 we saw an email from Holmes to Bob Grady, a partner at the Carlyle Group. He can talk to people at Pfizer, Glaxosmithkline, and Novartis if he wants to confirm their work with Theranos. She testified that not all investors asked for this information.
I am looking forward to her explanation for the consistent lies she has told.
We broke for the day. The period in which the government alleges fraud is still to come. The defense suggested that her mistake was trusting him too much and that she may have blamed her co-conspirator.
She may claim that he abused her. She claimed in court that he had control over her food, clothing, and communications. Balwani denies this. An expert on abusive relationships is on the defense's witness list, though she may not be called.
I anticipate a lengthy testimony from her, and I look forward to her explanation for the consistent lies that people have told about Theranos. The government can use her statements in the press to ask her questions when she is cross-examined.
We just heard the story of a startup, and it would not be interesting or unusual if it weren't for how the company ended.
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