- Elizabeth Holmes just gave her first set of interviews since 2016
- Theranos founder says she volunteered and still dreams of returning to the health tech
- Everything looks like a new seduction operation in view of his appeal trial
If you were wondering what Elizabeth Holmes, the fallen priestess of the health tech : we reassure you, she is still far from bars and is actively trying to straighten her image. In any case, this is evidenced by a series of strange interviews with the ex-leader; his first media appearances since 2016, the scandals around Theranos, and above all his indictment.
To refresh your memory, Elizabeth Holmes decided at the age of 19 to stop her university studies at Stanford to set up a promising startup in the field of health – Theranos. The firm was to develop and market a revolution in blood testing. Imagine a small machine at a reasonable cost that can perform dozens of blood tests in a few minutes from a single drop of blood…
Here’s what the ousted Theranos leader has been up to since 2016
Too good to be true ? No doubt, especially when you know that some tests require varying amounts of blood and can require an incubation period of several days, not to mention incompatible techniques… And yet many believed in it, including leading investors including Rupert Murdoch, the Walton family (Walmart) and the family of former US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.
In all, Theranos has been valued at up to $9 billion, with no truly functional products in the pipeline. Behind-the-scenes attempts by the R&D team never succeeded in realizing Elizabeth Holmes’ vision – and it was all largely showmanship. During visits to the company’s headquarters, the manager offered visitors, for example, the opportunity to carry out some tests using a few drops of blood.
But these tests were relatively simple tests that required neither large amounts of blood nor an incubation period; and above all, they were made on conventional machines. Of course, when all this came to light, the company’s finances soared, and Theranos had to file for bankruptcy soon after. Making a lot of people unhappy, starting with the biggest investors, and the US SEC. She has since been sentenced to 11 years in prison, but has just appealed.
Damage control operation
So what do these interviews tell us about Elizabeth Holmes’ plans away from prison? On the surface, which the ex-entrepreneur “understood”, is “more human” and above all that she is still very interested in the health sector. Going into a little more detail, however, the subtext is above all that Elizabeth Holmes needs to present a better face at all costs.
The one who led Theranos told the Times that she has been volunteering for a year in a hotline against rape – which would occupy her 12 hours a day. She points to allegations of sexual abuse against her in the past as a source of motivation. Allegations that refer to a leg of her trial in which she testified against former Theranos No. business.
She also added during her trial that she had already been sexually assaulted at Stanford on the sidelines of a party organized by a fraternity – which would have triggered the cessation of her studies and the idea of founding Theranos. In her interviews, Elizabeth Holmes also returned to her intention to return to the health sector once her legal troubles were over. In particular to place itself in the sector of tests against COVID-19.
But obviously impossible to avoid the angry question about Theranos, to which she replied, keeping a low profile: “I made so many mistakes and there was so much I didn’t know or understand, and I feel like when you do this wrong, it’s like you’re really internalizing it in a deep way ”.
