Skip to main contentSkip to footer
Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes appeared in federal court for sentencing after being convicted of four counts of fraud for allegedly engaging in a multimillion-dollar scheme to defraud investors in her company Theranos, which offered blood testing la© Getty Images

Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos founder, begins 11-year prison sentence

Holmes was the subject of the Hulu miniseries The Dropout, numerous podcasts, and the book Bad Blood

Ahad Sanwari
Ahad Sanwari - New York
Senior WriterNew York
May 30, 2023
Share this:

Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced founder of the blood-testing company Theranos, turned herself in to Texas prison officials on Tuesday to begin her sentence.

The 39-year-old will be serving out a 11 year and three-month long prison sentence, with photos of her at a Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas emerged.

Theranos' founder Elizabeth Holmes arrives at the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, on May 30, 2023. © Getty Images
Elizabeth Holmes arrives at the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas

The former biotech entrepreneur was ordered to begin her sentence on May 30 after a court denied her latest request to remain free while appealing her fraud conviction for defrauding investors.

Following the downfall of her company that began with an expose by The Wall Street Journal in 2015, Holmes and her chief operating officer and president, Ramesh 'Sunny' Balwani, were charged with nine counts of wire fraud and three counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

MORE: Amanda Seyfried reveals she is glad she never met Elizabeth Holmes

Following a year-long wait due to COVID-19 restrictions and her pregnancy, Holmes' trial began in August 2021, and she was eventually found guilty on three counts of wire fraud, and one conspiracy to commit wire fraud. 

Elizabeth Holmes, founder and former CEO of blood testing and life sciences company Theranos, walks with her mother Noel Holmes and partner Billy Evans into the federal courthouse for her sentencing hearing on November 18, 2022 in San Jose, California.© Getty Images
Elizabeth was sentenced to 11 years in prison following her fraud conviction

Theranos, a company that was once hailed as a world-changing frontrunner in medical technology due to their blood testing tech – which turned out not to work properly – went from a $10 billion valuation in 2013 to an exponential low the following year after the misdeeds of the company were exposed, with Holmes' personal wealth being valued at next to nothing. Theranos was dissolved in 2018. 

Holmes and partner Billy Evans, heir to the Evans Hotels, welcomed their second child, a daughter, in April, already parents to a son born in July 2021. Their daughter was conceived mere months after a jury convicted Holmes of fraud.

RELATED: The Dropout: where is founder of Theranos Elizabeth Holmes now?

Founded in 2003, Holmes and Balwani promised the implementation of a technology that would revolutionize healthcare with its ability to scan for diseases and other health ailments with just a few drops of blood.

The company immediately skyrocketed to become a Silicon Valley juggernaut, with Holmes becoming one of the most prominent names on the scene and possessing a net worth of nearly $4.5 billion according to Forbes in 2015, the youngest and wealthiest self-made female billionaire in the country.

elizabeth holmes trial© Getty Images
The Theranos founder is leaving behind her partner and two children

However, it all came crashing down when a series of WSJ articles exposed serious flaws in their system and tech, with the U.S. Justice Department charging both Holmes and Balwani with a series of crimes.

After she was sentenced, she and Balwani were both fined $452 million to be paid to victims of the fraud. The latter was sentenced to 12 years and 11 months in prison, plus three years of probation, and turned himself in this April.

MORE: The Dropout: viewers said the same thing about Elizabeth Holmes series

Holmes' story has been told through several podcasts and a bestselling book, 2018's Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley startup.

In the midst of litigation, the case received renewed attention last year thanks to the Hulu miniseries The Dropout, based on the podcast of the same name.

WATCH: The Dropout, starring Amanda Seyfried

The show starred Amanda Seyfried as the disgraced founder, receiving critical acclaim and winning the actress her first Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy.

Read more HELLO! US stories here

Like this story? Sign up to our newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox.

More Celebrity News

See more