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Theranos To Close Shop (cbsnews.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the case-closed dept.

Major Blud writes: Multiple news outlets are reporting that Theranos, the company that promised to revolutionize healthcare with new blood-testing devices, is closing shop. The company "was unable to sell itself and is now looking to pay unsecured creditors its remaining cash of about $5 million in the upcoming months," reports CBS News. The CEO, Elizabeth Holmes, and President/COO Ramesh Balwani recently settled a civil suit with the SEC, which charged them with massive fraud related to them seeking investment based on misleading information regarding the accuracy of their "Edison" diagnostic equipment. According to The Wall Street Journal, investors lost almost $1 billion in the company. At one point, it was valued at almost $10 billion.

4 of 107 comments (clear)

  1. Investors had very little knowledge of technology. by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 5, Informative

    The investors in Theranos were an example of people being extremely ignorant of technology. Someone who understood would ask a few questions and immediately determine something was wrong.

    An example of someone who asked a few questions in 2013: Bill Maris: Here's why Google Ventures didn't invest in Theranos (Oct. 20, 2015 article)

    Quote:

    "We looked at it a couple times, but there was so much hand-waving -- like, Look over here! -- that we couldn't figure it out," Maris tells Business Insider. "So, we just had someone from our life-science investment team go into Walgreens and take the test. And it wasn't that difficult for anyone to determine that things may not be what they seem here."

  2. She's already been criminally indicted by JoeyRox · · Score: 4, Informative

    Her trial is scheduled to start later this year.

    https://www.justice.gov/file/1072521/download

  3. Re:Good luck with that by tsqr · · Score: 4, Informative

    Elizabeth Holmes and Ramesh Balwani have been indicted for conspiracy to commit wire fraud against investors, conspiracy to commit wire fraud against doctors and patients, plus 9 additional counts of wire fraud. They are both facing serious prison time.

  4. Re:Next step by rl117 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Nice try, Elon. The rescuer spent nearly all the time in the caves, actually doing the hard and heroic work of saving all those boys lives. He's a world expert on cave diving with decades of experience. His Thai girlfriend is 40, and there's zero evidence of paedophilia. He called out Elon for what he was doing, interfering with a complex rescue operation with a useless and impractical (at this point) toy, and he got all the boys out. Offending a billionaire is no reason to be baselessly accused of paedophilia. Musk should be utterly ashamed of his terrible conduct.