Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes found guilty of 4 of 11 counts, faces likely prison term

A federal jury in San Jose, California, found Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes guilty of four fraud counts Monday evening, not guilty on four other counts, and deadlocked on the final three counts in the landmark case against a fallen Silicon Valley sensation. Holmes, 37, faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for each guilty count, though legal experts expect her actual sentence to be much shorter.

Federal prosecutors had portrayed Holmes as a success-driven charlatan who misled investors and patients about the tabletop blood-testing startup she founded in 2003 at age 19 after dropping out of Stanford. Theranos and Holmes drew in high-profile investors and raised more than $900 million before a series of Wall Street Journal articles in 2015 sent the company on a decline, eventually collapsing in 2018 amid regulatory scrutiny and fraud charges. Holmes, worth $4.5 billion on paper at one point, left the company soon before it shuttered.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.