- By Madeline Halpert
- BBC News
May 17, 2023
Updated 39 minutes ago
Image source: Getty Images
A court has ruled that disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes must report to jail May 30 while she appeals her conviction for fraud.
Holmes, 39, had asked a judge to stay free while she was fighting her jail sentence over a blood test scam.
She was sentenced to over 11 years in prison after a jury found her guilty of defrauding investors last year.
In a separate ruling, US District Judge Edward Davila also ordered Holmes to pay the victims $452 million (£364 million).
She will split the multimillion-dollar payment with her former romance and business partner, ex-Theranos boss Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani.
The BBC has reached out to Holmes’ lawyers for comment.
Balwani was sentenced to 13 years in prison after being convicted on 12 counts of fraud and conspiracy last year. He began serving his sentence in April after failing his own attempt to remain free while appealing his conviction.
The court has recommended Holmes serve her time behind bars in a state minimum-security women’s prison in Bryan, Texas.
Holmes had asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to delay her sentencing days before she was due to report to jail last month.
video caption,
The Rise and Fall of Elizabeth Holmes
The Theranos founder had said she would raise “significant questions” about her case that could warrant a new trial, an argument Judge Davila dismissed.
“Contrary to her claim that accuracy and reliability were central issues to her beliefs, Ms. Holmes’ misrepresentations to Theranos investors involved more than whether Theranos technology was performing as promised,” he said at the time.
Holmes’ attorneys also argued that she should remain free while she appealed her case to provide for her children.
The mother of two lives in San Diego, California with her partner, hotel heir William Evans, their one-year-old son William and their three-month-old daughter Invicta.
Holmes was once considered the “next Steve Jobs” and was believed to be the world’s youngest self-made billionaire.
She founded Theranos after dropping out of Stanford University. During her time at the helm of the company, Holmes was able to raise millions of dollars from high-profile investors including media mogul Rupert Murdoch, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and Oracle founder Larry Ellison.
But the start-up fell through in 2018 after research found its technology wasn’t working. The blood test device should be able to perform a variety of tests with just a few drops of blood.
The company’s demise was documented in a television series, an HBO documentary, and a podcast.