Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes was sentenced Friday to more than 11 years in prison. She was charged for duping investors in a failed startup that promised to revolutionize blood testing. However, it instead made her a symbol of Silicon Valley ambition that veered into deceit.
The 38-year-old faced a maximum of 20 years in prison. Her legal team requested no more than 18 months, preferably served in home confinement. She is a mother a a year-old-son with another child on the way. Read on to know more about the Elizabeth Holmes’ trial.
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What’s The Charge Against Elizabeth Holmes?
Elizabeth Holmes, was Theranos CEO throughout the company’s turbulent 15-year history. She was convicted in January in the scheme, which revolved around the company’s claims to have developed a medical device that could detect a multitude of diseases and conditions from a few drops of blood.
However the technology never worked, and the claims were false. Theranos was dashed “by misrepresentations, hubris and just plain lies,” the judge said. “This case is so troubling on so many levels,” U.S District Judge Edward Davila said. “What was it that caused Ms. Holmes to make the decisions she did? Was there a loss of a moral compass?”
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What Did Holmes Say On Her Trial?
Holmes sobbed as she told the judge she accepted responsibility for her actions. “I regret my failings with every cell of my body,” Holmes said. She promised Davila she would devote the remainder of her life to trying to help others. Her lawyers argued that Holmes was a well-meaning entrepreneur who is now a devoted mother. Their viewpoints were supported by more than 130 letters submitted by family, friends and former colleagues praising Holmes.
Davila suggested that the letters might have struck a different tone had the writers seen and heard all the evidence shown to the jury. Prosecutors also wanted Holmes to pay $804 million in restitution — an amount that covers most of the nearly $1 billion that she raised from investors. But the judge left that question for a future hearing that has not been scheduled. She finally was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for the “white collar scheme.”
Holmes’ meteoric rise once landed her on the covers of business magazines that hailed her as the next Steve Jobs. And her deception was persuasive enough to draw in a list of sophisticated investors, including software magnate Larry Ellison, media mogul Rupert Murdoch and the Walton family behind Walmart.
