Taking a stand: The trial of Elizabeth Anne Holmes

by Walter J Talledo

A Washington D.C. native, as a child, Elizabeth was reserved, determined, ferociously private about her life, and would stop at nothing to achieve her goals. Her parents saw in her boundless potential and so invested in her education. By the age of 9, having studied programming, she started a business selling C++ compilers to Universities in China. At the age of 19, she founded Theranos, a company with a definite purpose in mind: to make cheap diagnostic tests that, with virtually a few drops of blood, from one's finger, could detect a plethora of medical conditions, including cancer. According to the United States Attorneys Office, for the Northern District of California, Elizabeth in conjunction with her then boyfriend Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani engaged in conspiracy to commit fraud and so face twelve criminal counts that, if found guilty, could send Elizabeth away for a maximum of twenty-years.?To be specific, the prosecution representing the government rested on Friday, after 11 weeks and 29 witnesses, but the best was unpredictably yet to come, on that very same day, for the woman, in whose innocence the writer wholeheartedly believes, wearing a navy blue blazer and a white collar shirt, took the stand, in a risky move that left her wide open for cross-examination.

The first issue to take into consideration, if Elizabeth were found guilty, would be the fact that she singlehandedly convinced under false pretences a host of high-profile investors that include but are not limited to: Rupert Murdoch ($5.8 million), Venture capitalist and Draper Fisher Jurvetson partner Tim Draper, Oracle Executive Chairman and founder Larry Ellison, National pharmacy and retail chain Walgreens. According to financial records made available in the indictment, Elizabeth raised an additional $9.1 million after Murdoch's investment, and a further $28.5 million with an additional $45 million in venture funding to be followed by a further $100 million in secured debt. If the numbers seem staggering, it behooves the reader to pay close attention to the names that make up the board of directors that featured well-known figures from both the realm of business and government, including but not limited to: Dr. Henry Kissinger (98 years old, a participant at the recent 4th Annual Bloomberg Economic Forum, and former United States Secretary of State under Richard Nixon); James Mattis (aka Mad Dog, former Secretary of Defense under Donald Trump), George Shultz (former United States Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan); Richard Kovacevich (former CEO of Wells Fargo); William Perry (former United States Secretary of Defense under Bill Clinton). The question to be decided by the jury of her peers seems clear, is a single woman of manifest talent, intelligence, potential - but nevertheless alone - able to shock-and-awe her way into fortune by means of deceit, beyond a reasonable doubt, with intent to mislead investors, patients and those who trusted her?

After graduating from St. John's High School in Houston Texas, Elizabeth joined Stanford University in 2002. Nobody from Texas, again her privacy being of the utmost concern, had heard from her again until she appeared on the cover of Forbes Magazine in 2014. Nor did anyone during her stint in Texas probably was aware that she had attended Stanford?University's summer Mandarin programme before declaring a major in chemical engineering. To be clear, Elizabeth was inspired by her great-great-grandfather, Christian R. Holmes, an engineer, inventor, surgeon, World War I veteran not to mention, head of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Much to her chagrin, however, soon Elizabeth would realise that she had a fear of needles. Reportedly, both her mother and her grandmother fainted while coming in contact with blood and needles. Arguably, the likely catalyst for her start-up, Theranos, was her stint at the Genome Institute of Singapore where Elizabeth tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-1) through the collection of blood samples with syringes, way back in 2003. In her mind's eye, the Theranos founder thought that the idea of using but a drop of blood to detect diseases could materialise if mixed with the right ingredients of which nature dare not divulge to those unwilling to see beyond the "ordinary" or that which is regarded as "conventional," or worse yet "normal." Elizabeth would meet time and again with a resounding "No" from professors and medical experts alike, including, Phyllis Gardner who did not deem her idea feasible until the day came, as it most definitely does to all of those who will not take "No" for an answer, when she managed to convince her advisor and the dean at the School of Engineering Channing Robertson to back her idea. It was a glorious day for the Theranos founder who by then had already dropped out of Stanford and used her tuition money to help her start-up her business. Soon enough Theranos would be valued at $9 billion and raise more than $400 million. Much to the amazement of the writer, the name of Elizabeth Anne Holmes appears on record on?18 U.S. patents and 66 foreign patents.

To be fair, the prosecution in the case against Elizabeth Anne Holmes has failed to both explore and exploit potential areas of interest which is another reason that leads the writer to believe that the verdict to be delivered by the jury in this case will be that of "not guilty." To name an example, the jury has heard little of her family ties which may explain why Elizabeth was so successful in securing funding from many a prominent source To be sure, doing so would also put the spotlight on those who wilfully vetted and voluntarily decided to back Theranos and Elizabeth Anne Holmes. No one in their right mind can believe that in the eyes of those individuals and corporations aforementioned, there was a shadow of reasonable doubt that Theranos could indeed be a viable investment, and hence worth investing in - that line of thought alone warrants a "not guilty verdict." Yet, how she managed to secure funding remains the subject of interest that interestingly enough has not been centre stage, during the trial, at least not at the time this piece was being concluded. Reportedly, her father, Christian Rasmus Holmes IV, a former Enron Executive has held many positions worldwide while Noel Anne, her mother, worked as a Congressional committee staffer, and foreign-policy and defense aide. Admittedly, through her mother's connections Elizabeth may have been able to gain access to the likes of Dr. Henry Kissinger, James Mattis and George Shultz.

Arguably, it is up to a jury of her peers to decide the fate of Elizabeth Anne Holmes, who in "our" humble opinion deserves a second chance for humans of such great talent and promise are bound to add value to the human experience. May her peers, who will soon be entrusted with the task of reaching a verdict, see in her what the writer saw when he first came in contact with the woman in question.

Note: This piece is dedicated to Fabiola Pe?a Blasco for all of her help.