Author: Maria Chzhen
Date: 5 April 2020
The story of Theranos and its pattern of manipulation, scamming and lying got everyone's attention only 2 years ago (in 2018). I read in full detail about it in a book called "Bad Blood" by John Carreyrou. It is an absolute must-read if you want to read a book that you can't put down. Even Bill Gates recommended reading it! And he doesn't recommend bad things.
The plot of the book is about a Silicon Valley biotechnological startup and the web of lies that it has been weaving since 2003. Bear in mind - all the events described happened in real life. All of them. This is a web that involved almost 10 billion dollars! But enough with going around the bush. I am talking about Theranos, its founder Elizabeth Holmes and everyone involved in this unpleasant mess of a company.
Which problem was Theranos supposed to solve in the first place? The original purpose of Theranos was to revolutionize blood testing by making it a lot simpler and faster. The device, that was designed to be able to fit in the palm of a hand, would be able to withdraw blood from your fingertips and analyze it. The analysis would consist of various tests, including tests for potassium and cholesterol levels, presence of diseases and many others. The company had everything - a charismatic young CEO, investors that had great reputations, lots of money and success. There was only one problem that changed everything: the technology they sold didn't work. For 14 years, Elizabeth Holmes, who was a 19 year-old Stanford dropout at the time she founded Theranos, has been fooling her partners and investors. Holmes made everyone believe that Theranos' technology worked. The test results from the lab reports, particularly the percentage rate number was simply unacceptable to even be allowed close to the patients that may have had real, deadly issues. (ok, well, that is an exaggeration. But you get my point!). The devices were clearly not ready. Elizabeth didn't want any such "excuses". She would also fire anyone who wasn't a yes-man to her. Any criticism - you are fired! Nevertheless, Holmes continued her work. Although she was no scientist and was in no way qualified enough to lead a healthcare technology company, Elizabeth was a great saleswoman, could persuade any person to reverse their decision and change their minds and was an amazing manipulator overall.
Only in 2015 did someone expose her. That "someone" was John Carreyrou, an investigative writer for Wall Street Journal. He wrote several articles revealing her questionable actions. Let me give you an example of what I meant by saying "fooling her partners and investors":
Holmes did many shady and unethical things. In the end, this paid out in the form of a huge scandal and a criminal lawsuit for fraud. Her trial date is June 2020.
John Carreyrou did an excellent job reporting on the beautiful disaster of Theranos. He actually won 2 Pulitzer-prizes for his investigative writing! There you go. You have a book on your to-read list.