Fantastic Fraud: The Crimes Of Elizabeth Holmes
Uncovering the lies of Elizabeth Holmes.
This was probably one of the biggest frauds in history and it could have endangered the health of many patients in the US.
Elizabeth Holmes was the founder of the medical company Theranos.
Theranos was a medical company that contributed to healthcare industries by creating a device that could run precise data with just a finger prick. This was huge, it revolutionized the industry because it cut the costs of blood testing.
It could have been able to revolutionize the whole industry……..if it were real.
It turned out, the company had been a fraud since the very beginning. They frauded investors and patients, risking their lives by giving the wrong data.
The most disturbing fact was: how did Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, got away with lying to the entire world for more than a decade straight?
None of the investors ever caught her during her presentations or even when she did a Ted Talks.
TED TALKS!!
A place to inspire people and yet Elizabeth was able to maintain the lies even there.
So what makes this so interesting?
How was she able to maintain her lies for a decade more.
Here are 4 clues about the lies chronologically:
Her studies did not match her occupation
This is very subjective to spot at first because anyone can work in a field that did not relate to their fields. Elizabeth Holmes was a Chemical Engineer Stanford College drop-out student who later created Theranos.
This is what made John Carreyrou very interested in this investigation. He questioned how a chemical engineering drop out was able to create a medical device company. Medical devices need to be very accurate because they involve the lives of people, and the stakes there are very high.
Voice
This is the hottest topic of Elizabeth Holmes, her deep voice. People would assume that it was her real voice until she accidentally slipped into a normal feminine voice.
Psychologically speaking, when someone has a deep voice, it is a sign that they are telling the truth. In fact, it is one of a trait of leadership because you can command people to your bidding. Having a deep voice will also help intimidate your followers because you can sound serious.
Elizabeth knew about this, which is why she kept a deep voice ALL THE TIME. But at some point, she was able to slip into a normal pitch, which you can check out the video here. Listen carefully when you watch. Elizabeth Holmes at Mad Money.
She copies her idol ALL THE TIME
Black turtleneck, the slow reveal of a new product. Ringing any bells?
It was the traits of the late Steve Jobs, who would always do this. If you watched his presentation videos, he would always do this. Elizabeth Holmes was a big fan of his and said that she wanted to be the female Steve Jobs. She copied everything he did.
Now it is all right to have an idol whom we look up to, but following their every move? In my readings of leaders and successful people, I have never seen or heard of them being obsessed with other successful people (if you do find a video about this, please do tell me).
The successful people inspired them, but they find their own way to success. Ever heard of Jack Ma, Bill Gates, and others talking a lot about their idols?
Unethical Decision
This is the biggest alarm. The purpose of a business is to create something that can benefit the world, not harm them. In fact, this is why a whistleblower decided to ring the alarm.
While Elizabeth Holmes continued making fake data scans of blood, Tyler Schultz blew the whistle. He realized all the lies and went to Elizabeth Holmes about it.
However, she ignored his complaints and made one of the board members, George Schultz, Tyler’s grandfather, convince him to stop.
Tyler resigned from the company only eight months after he first joined, but continued to receive threats from Elizabeth with legal actions.
Because of this, Tyler sought a journalist, John Carreyrou. John Carreyrou decided to investigate on Theranos and uncovered the truth in 2015. Theranos then shut down in 2018 for the fraud. He is now famous for his book Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies In A Silicon Valley Start-Up.
All in All…..
This is the most interesting case of scandal. Just when you thought a successful person is great, doesn’t mean they are who they are.
Looks are deceiving no matter how interesting they look. Hope this can help you all to look for frauds.
