Elizabeth Holmes Is Serving Her Prison Sentence Alongside Another Celebrity

Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced tech entrepreneur who founded the once-prized startup Theranos, started her 11-year prison sentence on May 30, 2023, at a minimum security facility located in Texas. And apparently, she's not the lone famous personality to serve time there.

Holmes, whose story was featured in the Hulu series "The Dropout," starring Amanda Seyfried, used to be touted as the youngest self-made billionaire in Silicon Valley — and the world, even — having claimed to have developed a device that could test for various illnesses using a blood sample from a single finger prick. The device was later discovered to be a sham, but not before Holmes defrauded investors for millions of dollars. Per The New York Times, she was found guilty of four separate fraud charges. NPR also reported that she was initially ordered to report to prison on April 27, 2023, but it was delayed following a last-minute appeal. Her attempt to dodge prison was rejected, however, and she was instead mandated to spring for $452 million in restitution to her victims, along with her co-conspirator and former lover Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani.

Holmes reported to Camp Bryan in Texas as expected and joined more than 600 inmates, one of whom happens to be "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" star Jen Shah.

Elizabeth Holmes became a celebrity in her own right after her case caused a media storm. In her tenure at Camp Bryan, she may meet and may even become friends with fellow celebrity Jen Shah, "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" alum who was a fraudster herself. Shah entered Camp Bryan in February after being convicted for spearheading a telemarketing scheme and scamming elderly folk for thousands of dollars.

Shah's prison consultant Justin Paperny told Entertainment Tonight that there's a huge chance tHolmes and Shah would become allies as they serve their respective sentences. "There's a guarantee they're going to run into one another. There's also going to be an understanding amongst them, so for that reason, I suspect they'll connect," he said. "They may become friends." Shah, who claimed to have "adjusted really well" to life behind bars, might even help Holmes acclimate to prison life just as well. "If Elizabeth chooses to adjust like Jen, I suspect they could be friends. Perhaps Jen, as I've encouraged her to do, could even mentor her," Paperny added. "If Elizabeth Holmes does half as well as Jennifer Shah has, then Elizabeth Holmes' family should be proud of her."

If not, Holmes apparently has other options for friends. Some inmates admitted to The Wall Street Journal that they had taken a liking to Holmes and wished to know her more. "Some people are like 'I want to be her friend'," inmate Tasha Wade dished to the outlet. "But other people are like, 'I can't believe that's all she got for taking all that money.'"

Elizabeth Holmes has actively avoided talking to the media since she was found to be a fraud, but she seemed to be remorseful about her actions. "I am devastated by my failings," she reportedly said in court. "Every day for the past few years I have felt deep pain for what people went through because I failed them." She also directly offered an apology to the people she had fooled and hurt: "I'm so, so sorry. I gave everything I had to build our company and to save our company. I regret my failings with every cell in my body."

But she still has hopes for the future and intends to continue working in the science and tech space after her prison stint. "I still dream about being able to contribute in that space," she shared with The New York Times. "I still feel the same calling to it as I always did and I still think the need is there." But what pains her, though, is being separated from her children, who are a big part of why she attempted to delay reporting to Camp Bryan. "How would you spend your time if you didn't know how much time you had left?" she told the outlet when asked what she busied herself with pre-prison. "It would be the kind of things we're doing now because they're perfect. Just being together."