Elizabeth Holmes' Ex-Boyfriend Sunny Balwani Just Received Bad Legal News
In June 2018, Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes was indicted on nine counts of fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit fraud, The Washington Post reported. Founded in 2003, Theranos, previously valued at $9 billion (per Forbes), claimed to be able to run a series of medical blood tests with just a little blood from a patient's finger. This claim, as well as the devices they allegedly used to achieve it, turned out to be untrue as revealed by Wall Street Journal journalist, John Carreyrou.
After months of delay, Holmes trial in the case of U.S. v. Holmes, et al. commenced in 2021 and came to an end in January 2022, with the jury finding her guilty on only four counts out of 12, per Mercury News. Still, the outlet reported that Holmes could be facing as many as 20 years in prison. But while it remains uncertain what the verdict means for Holmes' future, the law has continued to catch up on another party involved — namely, her former business partner and lover, Sunny Balwani.
Sunny Balwani is guilty on all counts
Following a 13-week-long trial, Sunny Balwani, a former executive at Theranos was convicted on all 12 counts of fraud levied against him, according to The Guardian. Though Balwani was more or less an investor/employee of Theranos, prosecutors believe he wielded just as much power as Holmes in the affairs of the company. "Mr. Balwani is not a victim," prosecutor Jeff Schenk insisted during his closing argument, via ABC News. "He's a perpetrator of the fraud."
This, of course, is a far cry from Elizabeth Holmes' conviction on four counts of fraud. While Holmes, who is set to be sentenced in September, was only convicted on counts relating to investors, per ABC News, Balwani was found guilty of also defrauding both investors and customers.
Per Vanity Fair, the pair first met in 2002, with Balwani and Holmes starting a romantic relationship only shortly after. In 2009, he joined Theranos as Chief Operations Officer, working closely with Holmes to pitch to investors and increase the company's valuation. However, things between the pair eventually ended in 2016, in the heat of their legal woes.