Theranos Lays Off Almost All of Its Remaining Workers (marketwatch.com)

A few months ago, Theranos laid off almost half of its workforce as it struggled to recover from the backlash generated when the company failed to provide accurate results to patients using its proprietary blood test technology. Now, according to people familiar with the matter, the company is laying off most of its remaining workforce in a last-ditch effort to preserve cash and avert or at least delay bankruptcy for a few more months. MarketWatch reports: Tuesday's layoffs take the company's head count from about 125 employees to two dozen or fewer, according to people familiar with the matter. As recently as late 2015, Theranos had about 800 employees. Elizabeth Holmes, the Silicon Valley firm's founder and chief executive officer, announced the layoffs at an all-employee meeting at Theranos's offices in Newark, Calif. on Tuesday, less than a month after settling civil fraud charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Under the SEC settlement, Holmes was forced to relinquish her voting control over the company she founded 15 years ago as a 19-year-old Stanford dropout, give back a big chunk of her stock, and pay a $500,000 penalty. She also agreed to be barred from being an officer or director in a public company for 10 years.

Comments

When does she go to jail?

[Anonymous Coward]

She lied about everything and committed numerous levels of fraud. She needs to be put on trial immediately.

Re:When does she go to jail?

[GrumpySteen]

Why isn't she going to jail ?

US law has been written by corporations for decades and virtually nobody ever goes to jail for corporate fraud. The US government handed out billions to banks and bought up all the toxic assets they'd created through the most massive fraud in the history of the nation and only senior figure went to jail (and then only for 2.5 years). And now we're rolling back the minimal regulations that were put in place to prevent that type of fraud so it can happen again.

Why would you think that it would be any different for the CEO of Theranos? I'm surprised we didn't pay off her debts and buy her a house in the Bahamas.

Re:When does she go to jail?

[LynnwoodRooster]

Bernie Ebbers. Bernie Madoff. Ken Lay. Martha Stewart. Martin Shkreli. Jeff Skilling. Allen Stanford. Sam Waksal. All CEOs of multi-billion dollar corporations who went to jail for corporate fraud. It's not at all uncommon - and it makes news when it happens because it is fairly uncommon for fraud at the level of Holmes. She got special treatment because she was a young woman in tech - and that is not socially acceptable to penalize her for "breaking into the boys club" even if she did commit fraud at a Worldcom/Enron/Tyco level of fraud.

blah, blah, blah

[rmdingler]

She will: relinquish voting control, give back a big chunk of her stock, pay a $500k penalty, and agree to be barred from holding an officer or director position with a public company for 10 years.

A relatively small private contractor would go to jail next Wednesday for a hot check to float the Easter Party.

Re:blah, blah, blah

[sd4f]

I think this is one of those instances where gender politics has really favoured her, and she did more than just fool her investors. Not only has an ignorant media, oblivious to the technicalities, promoted her and gave publicity because she was a 'woman in tech', they're certainly not covering the mess now, when they clearly got it so wrong.

I think the media that covered her should apologise. In certain sectors, their fervour of covering all things related to culture wars, such as gender and minorities, they promoted and gave publicity to a charlatan.

Re:blah, blah, blah

[rmdingler]

Because people are easily led sheep, and have been convinced that these are their betters, and that they should look up to them? It also helps that they own all the media, most of the government (if not all, no one who is not owned will get far), and almost most importantly, the entertainment industry.

This is, I am afraid, the cost of popularist democracy. This is also probably why original democracy was NOT popularist democracy, and had a number of features, now long gone, designed to stop this very development.

We are all busy racing to totalitarianism, with the only real competition being who wants to get there first. Right now the left is showing a more rabid love for it, however the right are playing many of the same games.

I have begun equating the left and the right with punches that equally contribute to my beat down.