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| VIEW EVENT INFORMATION: Elizabeth Holmes |
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Elizabeth Holmes Reportedly Owes Theranos $25 Million |
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About the person Elizabeth Holmes:
Art: Corporation
Genres: CEO, Co-Founder, Entrepreneur, Executive, Founder, Management, President, Health Care, Health-Technology, Medical Service |
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Notable Organizations: Vanity Fair, Theranos
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| Despite a relatively quiet start to 2017 for Theranos C.E.O. Elizabeth Holmes, it would appear this year will be no kinder to Holmes or her embattled blood-testing company. Theranos, once a buzzy $9 billion biotech start-up claiming to have developed revolutionary diagnostic technology, laid off 41 percent of its work force in January. Two months later, it was reported that Holmes had begun offering her own shares to aggrieved investors if they promised not to sue her or Theranos. While the company claims to have gotten back on track after abandoning its proprietary Edison blood-testing device—which a series of investigative reports revealed didn’t work as advertised—to focus on its new miniLab product, some investors didn’t seem impressed. Rupert Murdoch, one of Holmes’s more prominent investors, reportedly sold his shares, worth $125 million when he bought them in 2015, back to Theranos for $1.
Now, once again, it appears things have gone from bad to worse for Holmes. The Wall Street Journal reports that Holmes owes a debt of about $25 million to the company she founded in 2003, when she was still a teenager. According to the Journal, Theranos had previously struck a deal with Holmes allowing her to exercise options to buy company stock without having to pay upfront. Holmes, whose stake was once valued at about $5 billion and is now practically worthless, reportedly didn’t get any Theranos money from the arrangement, and has never sold any of her shares, including the shares related to the debt. People close to the 33-year-old founder told the Journal she lives an “austere” lifestyle.
Still, there is an upside for Holmes: according to a deal document shown to Theranos investors, the company can cancel her debt or shares at any time, potentially eliminating any personal risk. And Holmes, pending her offer to sign away her shares so that investors don’t sue, controls more than 50 percent of the company. (Theranos did not immediately respond to a request for comment.) |
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