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Elisabeth Holmes is found guilty

Theranos was one of Silicon Valley’s most prominent companies, but in 2015 the mask fell and Elisabeth Holmes with it.

It was one of the most anticipated trials of 2021, and it will finally have rendered its verdict in 2022. After years of investigation, a trial lasting several months which will have seen many highlights, the American justice has finally handed down its verdict. verdict: Elisabeth Holmes, patron of the Theranos company, is found guilty.

But guilty of what? To fully understand this affair, we have to go back to the beginning of the 2010s. At that time, the Theranos company was on the rise and it was preparing to revolutionize the world of health in the United States, if not. is all over the world, just that. The promise is beautiful and rare are the investors who have not yet given their money to be part of this crazy adventure.

At the head of Theranos, Elisabeth Holmes, a Steve Jobs of medicine who runs through magazine covers. With her turtleneck and hoarse voice, she impresses, and many admire her as much as the illustrious creator of the apple brand. Except that in October 2015, the house of cards collapsed.

The house of cards is collapsing

John Carreyou, investigative reporter for the Wall Street Journal pulls out a sharp article. Theranos is just a big scam, all the announcements made by Holmes are hype. Worse, she sabotaged the test results, providing false diagnoses. The scam of the century has just taken place.

In a few days, the most prominent woman in Silicon Valley becomes an outcast. Since then, a legal procedure never seen in the tech world has emerged. The investigation will last for years, and the trial, which opened in September, for months. It has therefore just ended, with a clear verdict to say the least: Elisabeth Holmes is guilty, she is at the origin of this scam.

Because Holmes’ entire defense was based on a single point. The one according to which she would have been psychologically manipulated by her ex-companion Ramesh Balwani. The latter should also be tried in a second trial within a few months. But for the jurors of this extraordinary trial, no doubt, Elisabeth Holmes was well aware of what she was doing.

The verdict condemns, but not totally

But ultimately, the jury’s verdict is more nuanced than one might expect. Indeed, Holmes was only convicted of 3 of the 11 charges that hovered over his head. Found guilty of fraud, including fraud against investors, but was acquitted of fraud against her patients.

For her part Elisabeth Holmes declared that she was going to appeal this sentence, she who faces up to 80 years in prison according to the texts of American laws. But legal experts agree that she should not be sentenced to more than 15 years. Although she admitted having made mistakes, and having regrets, Elisabeth Holmes was very confident at the bar.

Convincing and genuine, she seems confident that her blood testing process may work in the future. “We were close to the goal … then everything collapsed”, she confided to the bar several times. While the outcome of this crazy story will not be known immediately, Hollywood has already seized the case, and it is Jennifer Lawrence who will have the main role.

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