In brief
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Elizabeth Holmes' conviction for defrauding investors, reinforcing her 11-year prison sentence.
Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of the infamous blood-testing startup Theranos, has officially lost her appeal against her fraudulent conviction. Holmes, who was sentenced to over 11 years in prison for her role in misleading investors about her company's capabilities, challenged the trial's evidence and claimed that statements from her former partner, Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, regarding his responsibility for Theranos' financial strategy were crucial and should have been considered. Balwani, too, is serving a lengthy prison term after being convicted in a separate trial.The appeal was dismissed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, with Judge Jacqueline H. Nguyen stating that the company’s assertions of being able to conduct blood tests using merely a drop from a finger prick were deceptive illusions. In her remarks, she emphasized that the ambitious claims made by Holmes and Balwani were primarily fabrications.Holmes was found guilty in 2022 of conspiracy and multiple counts of wire fraud, stemming from her actions that misled investors regarding both the financial stability of Theranos and the reliability of its technology. Balwani faced additional charges related to defrauding patients, and both have appealed parts of their convictions, including a substantial restitution amount of $452 million, which the court upheld.At one time, Theranos was valued at a staggering $9 billion, but this figure plummeted following investigations that brought to light the startup's internal problems and technical failures. Holmes began serving her prison sentence in Texas in 2023 after the unraveling of her once-promising technology venture.
