In 2014, blood-testing startup Theranos and its founder, Elizabeth Holmes, were on top of the world.
Back then, Theranos was a revolutionary idea thought up by a woman hailed as a genius who styled herself as a female Steve Jobs. Holmes was the world’s youngest female self-made billionaire, and Theranos was one of Silicon Valley’s unicorn startups, valued at an estimated $9 billion.
But then it all came crashing down.
The shortcomings and inaccuracies of Theranos’s technology were exposed, along with the role Holmes played in covering it all up. Holmes was ousted as CEO and charged with massive fraud, and the company was forced to close its labs and testing centers, and eventually shutter operations altogether.
Now, Holmes faces up to 20 years in prison. In the meantime as she awaits trial, she’s reportedly found the time to get engaged, and now married.
This is how Holmes went from precocious child, to ambitious Stanford dropout, to an embattled startup founder charged with fraud:
