Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes jailed 11 years for fraud
Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of blood-testing start-up Theranos, has been sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for defrauding investors.
The disgraced former CEO falsely claimed the Theranos tech could diagnose diseases with a few drops of blood.
Theranos was valued as much as $9bn (£6.5bn) at its peak, with Holmes heralded as the rising star of Silicon Valley.
Holmes, who is currently pregnant, told the court she felt “deep pain” for those who had been misled by her scam, as reported by the BBC.
The sentence comes after she was found guilty in January after a three-month trial, but opens questions around the “fake it ‘til you make it” ethos that circulates around the tech start-up scene.
Holmes is expected to appeal against the sentence.
Holmes’ defence during initial the trial was two-fold. First, that her former partner, and Theranos’s former President, abused and controlled her. Second, that whatever she did, she did it in good faith, having founded the company at 19.