Is this the final chapter of Theranos? The story of the failed company of elizabeth holmes appears to have come to an end with the conviction of his former partner Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani.
The jury found Balwani guilty of 12 counts of fraud, thus, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison and another three years on probation for his part in Theranos deception of patients and investors.
The man, a former director of the blood analysis company, attended the reading of his opinion on Wednesday, which reported that Balwani was aware that the firm could not provide reliable results from its tests and that its technology did not work as expected. they advertised it.
Although prosecutors called for 15 years in prison for Balwani, the final sentence was 155 months plus three years of probation. Said sentence is greater than that of Holmes, who was sanctioned with 11 years in prison.
During Balwani’s trial, messages sent to Holmes came to light confirming his place in the company’s history: “I am responsible for everything at Theranos… They have all been my decisions too.”
Theranos: Holmes & Balwani
In this way, the story of Theranos, a biotechnology company founded by Elizabeth Holmes in 2003, comes to an end. It promised excellent blood analysis technology that attracted many renowned investors.
This technology claimed to diagnose many diseases with just a drop of blood. However, in 2015 researchers from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found “serious flaws” in the tests.
And that same year, The Wall Street Journal published research that would start the public decline of Theranos.
Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, who at the time was also in a romantic relationship with Elizabeth Holmes, was the director of the company.
In fact, in his defense, Holmes would mention that he suffered emotional, psychological and sexual abuse by Balwani, but the 57-year-old’s lawyers denied these accusations and described Holmes’ words as “offensive and personally devastating” for the businessman.
Ultimately, the jurors found that both were aware that their technology was not capable of delivering the results it promised and still continued to advertise it in this way.
Editorial Team The editorial team of EMPRENDEDOR.com, which for more than 27 years has worked to promote entrepreneurship.