There's nothing like a spectacular fall from grace to fascinate us, and it was only a matter of time before the tale of Elizabeth Holmes was dramatised on screen. Streaming now on Disney+, The Dropout stars Amanda Seyfried as Elizabeth Holmes, the former tech entrepreneur who went from billionaire to criminal in what was dubbed ‘Silicon Valley’s trial of the century’. (Jennifer Lawrence has also signed up to play Holmes in a forthcoming movie based of the scandal).
Before you dive in, here's everything you need to know about Elizabeth Holmes and The Dropout...
What is The Dropout about?
The synopsis for Hulu show reads, 'Money. Romance. Tragedy. Deception... the story of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos is an unbelievable tale of ambition and fame gone terribly wrong. How did the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire lose it all in the blink of an eye?'
Based on the American ABC News podcast of the same name, The Dropout charts the the meteoric rise and subsequent downfall of entrepreneur Holmes, who was once dubbed 'The Next Steve Jobs'.
Holmes convinced some of the world’s richest people to invest billions in her blood-testing business, claiming she had devised a way to test for a range of health conditions, such as cancer and diabetes, using just a tiny pinprick of blood. However, an exposé revealed her 'revolutionary' technology didn't work.
Who is Elizabeth Holmes?
Despite having no medical training, Holme's health tech company Theranos was initially considered a shining example of Silicon Valley start-up culture. In 2014 Holmes was on the cover of Fortune magazine and by 2015 she was named the youngest self-made female billionaire in the US based on valuations that put Theranos' worth at more than $92 million.
That same year, John Carreyrou, a Wall Street Journal reporter, published an expose of Theranos, revealing that the technology was misdiagnosing health conditions. After a blood test, one patient was told – falsely – that she was miscarrying; another was given a false positive result for HIV. Following the exposé Theranos crumbled, along with Holmes’ public image.
What was Elizabeth Holmes found guilty of?
On the 3 January 2002, after a two-year-long trial, a jury found Holmes guilty of four counts of fraudulently deceiving investors. (However, she was acquitted of four charges of deceiving patients and doctors.) She faces up to 20 years in prison but sentencing is not scheduled until September this year.
Who is Elizabeth Holmes' husband?
Holmes was romantically involved with tech entrepreneur Ramesh 'Sunny' Balwani (played by Narveen Andrews in The Dropout) who is 19 years her senior. They met in 2002 in Beijing on a Mandarin language program. Balwani officially joined Theranos in 2009, as chief operating officer; their romantic relationship was kept secret for much of their time running the company. Balwani left Theranos in 2016 in the wake of investigations.
In 2017, Holmes met William 'Billy' Evans - the wealthy heir to the Evans Hotels group in San Diego - at a party. They were spotted together at Burning Man festival in 2018, days before Theranos stopped operating, according to The Sun.
They married in 2019 and Evans has stood by her throughout her trial and conviction, despite reservations from his friends and family. 'He’s had a lot people very close to him sit him down and have a talk,' a source told The New York Post.
Evans is a graduate from MIT and according to his LinkedIn profile previously worked at Luminar Technologies, a company developing a market for driverless cars. The couple had a baby boy - also named William - in July 2021.
How can I watch The Dropout in the UK?
You can watch the first three episodes of The Dropout on Disney+ with new episodes added weekly.
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