A US court has upheld the conviction of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, rejecting her appeal against fraud charges.
Holmes was found guilty of defrauding investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars while running her now-defunct blood-testing startup, once valued at $9 billion.
The ruling also affirmed the conviction of Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, Theranos’s former president and Holmes’s ex-romantic partner.
A three-judge panel from the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco dismissed arguments that there were legal errors in their separate trials, which took place in 2022.
Sentencing and Restitution
Holmes, now 41, founded Theranos as a college student and became its public face.
She was indicted alongside Balwani in 2018.
Following separate trials, she was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison, while Balwani received 12 years and 11 months.
- Holmes was ordered to pay $452 million in restitution to investors.
- A judge placed the payment on hold due to her limited financial resources.
- Her sentence has been reduced by more than two years for good behavior, with an expected release date in 2032 after serving nine years.
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Fraudulent Claims and Legal Battle
Holmes built Theranos on the promise that its Edison blood-testing device could conduct multiple medical tests using just a few drops of blood.
However, the technology never worked as claimed. During her appeal, her lawyers argued that her trial involved improper procedures and evidence.
A U.S. attorney countered that there was no real dispute about the device’s failure. In a 2024 appeal hearing, prosecutors stated:
“It was not really contested that the device did not work.”
Holmes’s defense team had initially filed the appeal in April 2023, but the court ultimately ruled against her.
Holmes Speaks Out From Prison
Ahead of the ruling, Holmes appeared on the cover of People magazine, giving her first interview since her incarceration. She described her time in federal prison as “hell and torture” and claimed she had changed since her trial.
She said:
“The people I love the most have to walk away as I stand here, a prisoner, and my reality sinks in.”
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What’s Next for Holmes?
With her appeal rejected, Holmes will continue serving her sentence, with no immediate legal options for further challenges.
Meanwhile, the case remains one of the most high-profile corporate fraud scandals in US history, serving as a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked hype in Silicon Valley.
