London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Sep 01, 2025

Elizabeth Holmes: Disgraced Theranos founder delays going to jail after winning appeal

Elizabeth Holmes: Disgraced Theranos founder delays going to jail after winning appeal

Her company, a Silicon Valley sensation, claimed it could test for dozens of diseases from a single blood test, but when the tech turned out to be flawed, the founder was jailed for more than 11 years.

Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced tech billionaire convicted of fraud, has avoided starting her 11-year jail term on Thursday after a judge backed her appeal to delay it.

Holmes, 39, who founded Theranos, was sentenced to 11 years and three months after being found guilty of three counts of investor fraud and one count of conspiracy in November, following a four-month trial.

Theranos, a Silicon Valley sensation, promised to test for dozens of diseases from a single blood test, but was found to have flawed technology.

Ramesh 'Sunny' Balwani was sentenced to 13 years


Holmes, and her former partner and subordinate, Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, were accused of fleecing investors who backed the company to the tune of nearly $1bn (£803m), at the same time as endangering patients' health.

Balwani, 57, is serving a nearly 13-year prison sentence after being convicted of 12 counts of fraud and conspiracy.

A judge in San Francisco upheld Holmes's lawyers' appeal against a lower court's decision on Wednesday to deny her release while she appeals her original fraud conviction.

Earlier this month, Judge Edward Davila rejected an appeal for her to be released pending further appeals and told her to report to a minimum-security prison near Houston on Thursday.

But late on Tuesday, Holmes's lawyers filed an appeal, saying that decision contained "numerous, inexplicable errors" including references to "patient fraud convictions", even though the jury acquitted Holmes on those counts, Sky's US partner, NBC News, said.

Holmes was sentenced in November for what prosecutors called "among the most substantial white collar offences Silicon Valley or any other district has seen".

Amanda Seyfried as Holmes in The Dropout.


She became America's youngest-ever self-made female billionaire by 2014, but after the tech was exposed as bogus, the company - once valued at $9bn (£7.3bn) - quickly came crashing down.

Prosecutors have until 3 May to respond to Holmes's latest motion, NBC News said.

Holmes outside court with family and friends, including partner Billy Evans


Holmes's term will begin around 20 years after she dropped out of Stanford to found Theranos, inspired by the successes of Silicon Valley heavyweights like Apple boss Steve Jobs.

She has two children, both fathered by her current partner, William "Billy" Evans, who she met after breaking up with Balwani.

Her astonishing rise and fall from history-making billionaire to the brink of jail has inspired documentaries, podcasts, and an award-winning TV drama - The Dropout - starring Amanda Seyfried as Holmes.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that looks a lot like Telegram.
Investigations Reveal Rise in ‘Sex-for-Rent’ Listings Across Canada Exploiting Vulnerable Tenants
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
×