Hollywood loves a good story, and that’s especially true when it comes to biographies. And if there’s one biography that deserves to be made into a movie, it’s the story ofElizabeth Holmes—the self-made billionaire behind “The Founder.” Holmes grew up in a modest family in California, but she didn’t let this stop her from becoming one of the youngest female entrepreneurs in history. She started her first business at the age of 19 and has since built her company, Theranos, into one of the world’s most innovative technology companies. Her story is both inspiring and cautionary, and it provides an interesting look into the world of startup culture. If you want to know more about Holmes and her life journey, read on for our complete biography.
Elizabeth Holmes’ Early Life
Elizabeth Holmes was born in 1984 in Charlottesville, Virginia. She attended the University of Virginia for undergraduate studies before dropping out to start her first company, which made software that helped hospitals automate their billing processes.
In 2006, Holmes and her company Theranos raised over $US300 million from investors including John Doerr and Steve Jobs. The next year, she published a book about her experience founding the company, called “The Inventor: A Biography of Elizabeth Holmes.”
Holmes’ breakthrough came in 2011 when she developed technology that could rapidly test blood samples for signs of illnesses. Her venture capital firm, Valar Ventures, invested an additional $US500 million into the startup.
Theranos’s initial testing methods were controversial; many people believed that they were unreliable. But by 2014, the company had amassed a large customer base and was valued at $US9 billion. That same year, Holmes appeared on “60 Minutes” to discuss her company’s progress.
In October 2016, news reports emerged alleging that Theranos had been using fake laboratory results to maintain its credibility and raise investor confidence. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) launched an investigation into the matter; at this point, it was clear that Theranos’ business model was unsustainable. In March 2017, Holmes agreed to resign from her role as CEO of Theranos after admitting that she’d lied about the quality of her technology and their rate of innovation. She was subsequently banned from acting
The Start of Theranos, Inc
Elizabeth Holmes was born in Texas on July 6, 1985. She was raised by her mother, who taught her how to be self-sufficient. Holmes started her own business at the age of 20 when she founded Theranos, a company that pioneered the use of miniaturized blood tests.
In 2003, Holmes released her first book, “The Quotable Elizabeth Holmes” which outlined her entrepreneurial journey and the tactics she used to build Theranos. Her second book, “On Becoming a Complete Human Being” was released in 2014 and detailed her personal growth journey.
In 2013, Theranos was acquired by Oracle for $9 billion and Holmes became one of the youngest female billionaires in history. In 2017, she announced that she would be stepping down from her role as CEO of Theranos and relinquishing ownership of the company.
The SEC Investigation and the Shutdown of Theranos
The SEC Investigation and the Shutdown of Theranos
On September 7, 2017, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it had opened an investigation into potential securities fraud by Elizabeth Holmes, the founder and CEO of Theranos. The SEC’s probe concerns allegations that Holmes lied about the accuracy of her blood-testing technology. In July 2015, Theranos claimed to have developed a more accurate way to measure blood sugar with only a few drops of blood. However, according to the SEC, this was not true; instead, Theranos’s technology relied on traditional methods using small vials. As a result of the SEC’s inquiry, Theranos closed its doors in early 2018.
The controversy around Holmes dates back to 2013. At the time, she was running a laboratory called Emulate Labs Inc., which was developing innovative medical procedures such as minimally invasive surgery using ultrasound guidance. One of Holmes’ main partners at Emulate Labs was John Doerr, who is known for his investment in Google Inc. and Facebook Inc., among other businesses. According to media reports at the time, Doerr invested $7 million in Emulate Labs through his venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB).
In 2014, Holmes published a book entitled “The Start-Up of You: How Small Changes Can Make a Big Difference in Your Life” in which she described how she had developed her
The Rise of Elizabeth Holmes
In 2003, when she was just 19 years old, Elizabeth Holmes founded Theranos, a blood-testing startup that would go on to become one of the most successful technology companies in history. With her self-taught expertise in data analysis and laboratory technologies, Holmes built Theranos into a company with a valuation of $9 billion before it was shut down by the FBI in 2017 following allegations of fraud.
Despite her company’s early implosion, Holmes remains one of the most successful women entrepreneurs in history. Her story is now the focus of the film “The Founder,” which tells the true story of how Holmes and her team came up with their revolutionary technology and built one of Silicon Valley’s most iconic companies.
The Fall of Elizabeth Holmes
The fall of Elizabeth Holmes, the self-made billionaire behind “The Founder,” has thrust her into the public eye and exposed serious questions about her business practices.
Holmes founded Theranos, a Silicon Valley startup known for its innovative blood testing technology. But in early 2016, reports emerged that Theranos was falsifying data from tests it had been selling to major customers. The company eventually shut down amid investigations by federal regulators and criminal probes by the SEC.
In her book “The Fall: A Tale of Sex, Money and Power,” Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou outlined several troubling aspects of Holmes’s business model. For example, Holmes raised enormous sums of money by selling shares in her company at an early stage—before it had even developed a product Tectful Solution And she used some of that money to buy a $9 million mansion with an indoor swimming pool in San Francisco.