The Theranos rigmarole gave the world a partial conclusion today with the sentencing of Elizabeth Holmes. She was sentenced to 11 years in what may be a “country club” California prison and 3 months of probation. Restitution will be decided at a later hearing and the very pregnant Holmes does not need to surrender herself until late April. So she snuck out a side door with their parents and husband. Aside from that, the hearing was filled with egregious statements, mainly alleviating Elizabeth’s role in the multibillion dollar fraud. As a scientist, Silicon Valley nerd and entrepreneur, I feel it important to call this out.

Out of the several statements made by various people in the courtroom, a few stood out as downright insulting.

The judge said Holmes was brilliant. Really? She’s not not brilliant because she failed at the technology, but because it was not an original idea. Several inventive people have thought of a miniature blood analysis system, but they were honest enough to state that the science was problematic. Also, she heard about the device from her studies in China and convinced her Stanford mentor that it was her idea. Smart, maybe, but not brilliant. Ted Bundy was apparently so smart that his judge said it was a shame Bundy let it go to waste.
The judge wondered what caused her fraudulent nature, including the incentive of money. The answer comes from Holmes’ 9-year old self when she declared that she wanted to be a billionaire when she grows up. This is quite different than saying one wants to save the world or help people. Like a lot of kids dream about. No, as FTX fraudster SBF professed, all that goody two-shoes helping humanity talk is just for likability. And to get more money from people.
Her legal team exemplified how to tell a lie without telling a lie. Elizabeth Holmes’ attorney stated that she passed up opportunities to cash in on her Theranos stock. This is not completely true. At least one executive who called out the discrepancies was forced to resign and give his stock back to the company. This gave Holmes majority control over the company, which meant she was the number one decision maker, could not be easily ousted and was worth the most.
Holmes’ attorney claimed that she’s a good and considerate person. Ask Ian Gibbons. He was actually a brilliant scientist, a chemist, who was driven to suicide with Holmes’ inconsideration and outright meanness. All he said was ‘I don’t think this technology is working’. She made sure to literally ruin his career and life.
Elizabeth Holmes conjured up tears during her statement where she said she was sorry to the investors and patients. She said she regretted that she failed and she tried to save the world. She repeated “failed” several times. This is a tactic to avert the reality of intentional fraud for the sake of monetary gain. Saying one failed is more forgivable, but there was no hint of accountability in her statement. Even Jeffrey Dahmer took responsibility for his crimes, which is very telling of what Holmes really is. What, not who.

Bottom Line

Holmes slightly got away with her criminality. Throughout her reign, she insisted that every part of Theranos was her responsibility. She took great pride in being the ‘young genius’ billionaire. The one who was revolutionary and haters were trying to thwart her innovation. When everything went down, she did what is typical of a sociopath- put blame on others to save herself. But, texts show her conspiring to commit fraud and whistleblowers like Tyler Schultz testified that “she knew”. Holmes was given the minimum sentence likely because she has a second child on the way. Many speculate that Holmes planned the pregnancies to minimize the legal repercussions. After what she has shown the world- the fake voice, extravagant living, threats, resistance to the truth- cutthroat tactics cannot be ignored.