Reporter Who Broke Theranos Scandal Thinks This Will Be Elizabeth Holmes’ Outcome

Reporter and “Bad Blood” author John Carreyrou, who broke the scandal on former Theramos CEO Elizabeth Thanos, has predicted that Holmes will be found guilty.

Carreyrou’s new podcast debuts Aug. 26, and follows the upcoming criminal fraud trial of Holmes. He told CNBC that he predicts Holmes will be found guilty and her trial will be a “major wake-up call” to entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley.

“The message will be that you can’t really do anything you want, you can’t completely ignore rules and regulations. You can’t thumb your nose at regulators and authorities,” Carreyrou said.

According to Carreyrou, Holmes has an “incredibly high tolerance for risk” and she is “betting on herself” and he predicts Holmes will be convicted of wire fraud.
It has been three years since the release of his bestselling book, “Bad Blood” and now “Bad Blood: The Final Chapter” will follow the upcoming trial of Holmes.

Carreyrou has said a not guilty verdict will set a dangerous precedent among start-up CEOs. “Young entrepreneurs will say ‘look what Elizabeth Holmes got away with, and she didn’t go to prison for it’. It’s going to take a guilty verdict in this case to course-correct.”

Holmes and Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani ran the blood-testing start-up Theranos together as CEO and president. The company is no defunct.

The two will face separate criminal jury trials over charges they lied to patients and doctors while bilking investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars. Both pleaded not guilty.

“Based on all the interviews I did for my book and additional ones I’ve done for the podcast, it’s clear they ran this company and allegedly perpetrated this fraud together as a couple,” he said. For a time Balwani and Holmes were romantically linked.

“When they didn’t agree on something she had the final word,” Carreyrou said.

“So it makes it hard for me to believe she was under his psychological grip and that she had no volition of her own.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.