London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes set to serve 11-year prison sentence after judge throws out latest appeal

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes set to serve 11-year prison sentence after judge throws out latest appeal

The former darling of Silicon Valley, whose tech start-up promised revolutionary blood-testing technology that could check for dozens of diseases at once, was ordered to pay out more than £360m to victims by a court.

Disgraced Theranos founder, Elizabeth Holmes, looks set for prison after a court rejected her latest attempt to stay free.

The 39-year-old entrepreneur was also ordered to pay $452 million (almost £363 million) to victims of her crimes by a court in California on Tuesday.

She is jointly liable for the restitution penalty with her former lover and Theranos second-in-command, Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, who is already in prison after being convicted on a broader range of offences in a separate trial.

Holmes is trying to overturn her conviction for fraud and was appealing to remain out of jail while she does.

But US district judge Edward Davila, who sentenced her to more than 11 years in jail in November, will now set a new date for Holmes to report to prison.

Revolutionary technology

Holmes, a Stanford University dropout, started Theranos with the promise of delivering revolutionary blood-testing technology that could check for dozens of diseases at once.

She rapidly became a darling of Silicon Valley and raised nearly $1bn (£840m) from a host of high-profile investors, including media tycoon and Sky founder, Rupert Murdoch, and the company was once valued at $9bn (£7.3bn).

Holmes became America's youngest-ever self-made female billionaire by 2014, but the tech was exposed as bogus and the company quickly came crashing down.

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, her partner William and family members.


Delaying tactic


Holmes had previously been told she must start her sentence on 27 April, but her lawyers tried a last-minute delaying tactic.

At her trial, Holmes accused Balwani, 57, of abusing her emotionally and sexually.

Prosecutors called her crimes "among the most substantial white-collar offences Silicon Valley or any other district has seen".



Mistakes and misconduct claims


At her appeal, her lawyers cited alleged mistakes and misconduct during her trial and said errors and abuses that biased the jury were so egregious she should be allowed to stay out of prison while the appeal goes through.

That request has now been thrown out by both Mr Davila and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Holmes has two children - a one-year-old son, William, and a three-month-old daughter, Invicta - with her current partner, William 'Billy' Evans.

The failure of her latest appeal will see her separated from them and sent to prison.

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
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×