Theranos scandal enough to make blood boil
EVER wonder what a modernday millennial version of Bernie Madoff might look like?
Could it turn out to be Elizabeth Holmes, the 33-year-old Silicon Valley sweetheart who is the chief executive of blood-testing firm Theranos?
Holmes founded the privately held firm at age 19 after dropping out of college like other more fa- mous tech CEOs Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg.
At one point, Theranos had a $9 billion valuation, which today may be close to zero. Although Holmes has not been charged yet, the question attorneys general across the country may need to begin asking Holmes is, “Where’s the cash?”
Last week Theranos began to settle with some of its accusers. On Monday the company agreed to a ban from operating clinical and retail test laboratories for two years to resolve claims filed by Medicare and Medicaid.
On Tuesday it settled with the state of Arizona for $4.8 million over consumer fraud claims about its “flawed” blood tests. And later in the week the company, through its lawyers, reportedly began threatening bankruptcy if investors won’t abandon their lawsuits.
From $9 billion to contemplating Chapter 11. Imagine if Holmes worked at a bank or on Wall Street — what would happen?
Holmes insulated herself with one of the most powerful board of directors on the planet.
The all-too-impressive board members were none other than former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of Defense Bill Perry, former Secretary of State George Shultz, former senators Sam Nunn and Bill Frist, former Navy Admiral Gary Roughead and former Marine Corps General and current Secretary of Defense James “MadDog” Mattis, to name a few.
Not a one of these outside directors likely had a clue that they were sitting atop a house of cards about to tumble. How could they? They weren’t biology or chemistry majors.
All of the famous power elites have since resigned.
And Holmes worked the DC angle as well. She dined at a state dinner at the Obama White House in 2015, and hosted a political fundraiser at her home for Hillary Clinton in 2016.
In fact, the Holmes story is so scandalous that Jennifer Lawrence has agreed to play her in a movie being directed by Adam McKay, who was nominated for an Oscar for directing “The Big Short.”
I hope the writers haven’t written the ending just yet.