Elizabeth Holmes—Convicted on four federal fraud charges for deceiving Theranos investors
Elizabeth Holmes was convicted in January 2022 on four counts of investor fraud and conspiracy for misleading investors about Theranos's blood-testing technology capabilities. The company claimed its Edison device could run hundreds of tests from a finger prick of blood, but internal data showed the technology was unreliable. Holmes raised over $700M from investors based on these claims. She was sentenced to over 11 years in federal prison.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer Protection | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Corporate Governance | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Corporate Transparency | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Research Integrity | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.295 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (critical ×2) × confidence (0.59)× agency (compelled ×0.25)
Evidence (1 signal)
Federal jury convicted Elizabeth Holmes on four counts of fraud
A federal jury in San Jose convicted Elizabeth Holmes on four counts of wire fraud and conspiracy related to defrauding Theranos investors. She was acquitted on charges related to defrauding patients.