The disgraced entrepreneur has had a remarkable rise and fall. After dropping out of Stanford to found blood-testing startup Theranos at the age of 19, Holmes was named the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire in 2014. Her company, meanwhile, had reached a valuation of around $9 billion.
Just four years later, however, Theranos had collapsed and Holmes was facing criminal fraud charges, following allegations that she’d lied about the blood-testing tech.
With a plot like a Hollywood movie and a protagonist reminiscent of a supervillain, the tale has spawned a riveting range of reads, films, and podcasts. Here is the TNW team’s pick of the bunch.
The Dropout
.@RebeccaJarvis has been tracking every twist and turn of the Elizabeth Holmes trial.
Listen to every episode of "The Dropout: Elizabeth Holmes on Trial" now: https://t.co/QqiDI9hrDm pic.twitter.com/F7WWYNcTVi
— ABC News (@ABC) January 4, 2022
In The Dropout, ABC News reporter Rebecca Jarvis investigates the decline of Theranos. The gripping podcast features interviews with investors, employees, and patients, as well as the first-ever airing of Holmes’ deposition testimony.
The podcast was initially released as a six-part series in 2019, but returned with a series of new episodes about the trial in August 2021.
The science behind Theranos doesn’t add up
At the tail-end of 2018, The Verge released a YouTube video about the extraordinary claims of Theranos.
Using expert interviews and research studies, The science behind Theranos doesn’t add up explains the difficulties in producing such tech — and what we can realistically achieve in testing with a single drop of blood.
At just over five minutes in length, the film provides a concise explanation of a complex subject.
The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley
In The Inventor, Academy Award-winning director Alex Gibney chronicles the tale of Theranos and its enigmatic founder. The 2019 documentary explores the anatomy of the scam and the broader implications of bold promises in big tech.
Gibney won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Documentary Screenplay for his script for the film.
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
My book about the Theranos scandal, "BAD BLOOD: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup," is now on sale and available for order here: https://t.co/uYCMKsbDyk pic.twitter.com/V7kGuk5hVz
— John Carreyrou (@JohnCarreyrou) May 21, 2018
John Carreyrou’s reporting for the Wall Street Journal played a key role in exposing the Theranos scandal. The journalist later turned his investigation into a critically-acclaimed book: Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup.
The book is now being adapted into a feature film by Don’t Look Up director Adam McKay, which will star Jennifer Lawrence as Holmes.
That’s not the only forthcoming portrayal of the fraudster. Amanda Seyfried will also play the Theranos founder in Hulu’s The Dropout, a miniseries based on The Dropout, which premieres on March 3.
With sentencing still to come and the potential of a lengthy appeal process, there may be further plot twists before the series is released.
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