Elizabeth Holmes

Elizabeth Holmes is an American entrepreneur who founded Theranos, a blood-testing company whose claims led to her conviction for defrauding investors.

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Theranos: Theranos was a health technology company that claimed to perform many blood tests using small samples. Holmes founded and led the company at the center of her fraud conviction.
Securities fraud: Securities fraud is deception connected to buying, selling, or issuing financial investments. Holmes’s conviction concerned false statements made to Theranos investors.
Sunny Balwani: Sunny Balwani was Theranos’s president and chief operating officer and Elizabeth Holmes’s former romantic partner. He was prosecuted separately for fraud tied to Theranos and convicted on all counts.
Wire fraud: Wire fraud is a federal crime involving schemes to obtain money through materially deceptive communications sent by electronic means. Holmes was convicted of wire fraud for deceiving investors, not patients.
Edison (blood-testing device): Edison was a Theranos device designed to run blood tests from small samples, but it could not reliably deliver the advertised range. Holmes promoted Edison as evidence that Theranos’s testing technology worked.
Food and Drug Administration: The Food and Drug Administration is the United States agency that regulates medical products and oversees aspects of laboratory testing. Regulatory scrutiny of Theranos raised questions about oversight of its blood-testing claims.
George Shultz: George Shultz was a United States secretary of state and a Theranos board member. His support for Holmes and later doubts illustrate the company’s influence among prominent directors.
Insider trading: Insider trading is buying or selling securities using material nonpublic information in violation of legal duties. Holmes’s case involved misleading investors rather than trading on confidential market information.
Theranos whistleblowers: Theranos whistleblowers were former employees who disclosed concerns about the company’s testing practices to journalists and regulators. Their disclosures helped expose discrepancies between Holmes’s claims and Theranos’s operations.
Clinical laboratory regulation in the United States: Clinical laboratory regulation in the United States includes federal and state rules governing the accuracy and operation of diagnostic testing laboratories. The Theranos controversy exposed tensions in oversight of laboratory-developed tests.