TIMES.KY

Cayman Islands, Caribbeanand International News
Friday, Mar 24, 2023

How girl power played its part in Elizabeth Holmes’ downfall

How girl power played its part in Elizabeth Holmes’ downfall

As the shamed Theranos founder faces years behind bars, it’s worth reflecting on how many feel she exploited her gender to achieve success – and there were plenty of people happy to let her do so.

Once the darling of the biomedical technology industry, Elizabeth Holmes has just been found guilty of four counts of fraud. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, although Holmes is expected to appeal.

Holmes’ convictions relate to her now infamous start-up, Theranos, which promised investors and patients alike the ability to run comprehensive blood tests at a fraction of the cost of competitors, using a single, portable machine, and just a drop of blood. And if that sounds too good to be true, as the world would soon find out, that’s because it was.

The machines didn’t work. Holmes knew they didn’t work. And rather than come clean, when a lucrative deal with Walgreens was struck to provide testing for actual patients, specimens were sent out to third-party conventional labs, or when tests were conducted with Theranos machinery, they received faulty results.

This scandal has been blamed on everything from the American healthcare system, to Silicon Valley hype culture and even capitalism itself. But when looking back at the Theranos saga, from the company’s inception to its founder’s downfall, it’s impossible to overlook the role that Holmes’ gender has played in making this story a standout, for better or worse.

The female Steve Jobs?


Holmes founded Theranos in 2003, when she was a 19-year-old student at Stanford, and within just ten short years, the company had raised approximately $700 million from investors and exploded to a valuation of around $10 billion.

Such a rush of success was doubtless due in part to Holmes’ charisma, intelligence, and her (overly) ambitious product concept. However, in a sea of entrepreneurs, it can’t be denied that a female CEO contributed to Theranos’ novelty, and that the ensuing fawning media coverage aided in attracting capital.

Over her tenure as Theranos CEO, Elizabeth Holmes was named a Woman of the Year by Glamour magazine, and Inc. labeled her one of the eight women who could “own the future.” More generally, Holmes was also given the honor of hosting a TedTalk, graced numerous magazine covers, and was a fixture at elite events, such as award shows.

This growing persona as an empowered, female Steve Jobs is one that Holmes leaned into, going as far as to match her wardrobe to Jobs’ signature black turtlenecks. But for all the puff pieces in publications such as Forbes and Fortune, it’s important to remember that Theranos’ actual offerings never amounted to much more than vague promises.

And although Holmes would surely deny the assertion, at least one person has implied that her feminine wiles may have contributed to her fundraising success. Dr. Phyllis Gardner, a former professor who taught Holmes, has labeled Theranos’ generous investors as “older white men” who “weren’t thinking with their brains.”

From femme fatale to victim


Curiously, however, since the Theranos empire crumbled and Holmes was charged with fraud, this girl power facade began to shift into something decidedly more vulnerable. Over the past couple of years, not only have her black turtlenecks, up-dos, and khol-heavy eyes been traded for more feminine attire, tousled curls and soft make-up, but Holmes and her team have also attempted to distance her from the inner-workings of the company.

Far from the plugged-in CEO and core decision-maker that earlier PR efforts had made her out to be, Holmes’ defense instead aimed to paint her as merely one of many in leadership roles at Theranos. Yes, the company made mistakes and misled investors, but that wasn’t on Elizabeth personally, it was argued.

Furthermore, one shocking justification for Holmes’ conduct that was revealed during the trial was the allegation of abuse against Ramesh Balwani, Theranos’ COO and her then-boyfriend. Balwani is facing charges of his own, and the effort to portray one of Silicon Valley’s most infamous conwomen as a downtrodden domestic abuse victim was noted by legal experts as one possible way to shift blame away from her, if she was in fact acting out of coercion or distress.

However, whether these allegations of abuse are true or merely the weaponization of Holmes’ femininity is another question altogether. And perhaps even more insidiously, some have also speculated whether Holmes’ recent pregnancy was also an attempt to garner sympathy from both jurors and prosecutors. Either way, the court was curiously only informed of Holmes’ pregnancy once she was already five months along, and the news was successful in delaying the start of her trial until after she had given birth.

Though Holmes was eventually found guilty of four of the 11 charges against her, it is worth noting that the jury (eight of whom were men, four of whom were women) were deadlocked on three of the charges, which would ultimately be deemed a mistrial by the judge, and did deliver a not guilty verdict for the remaining four charges.

Of course, it is speculation to assume that the jurors may have been influenced by Holmes’ gender or supposed manipulation tactics, though it is a statistical fact that women, on average, are treated more leniently than men by the criminal justice system.

And as Hulu is set to premiere a mini-series ‘The Dropout’ based on the Theranos story with Amanda Seyfried starring in the leading role, it’s evident that as an entrepreneur or convicted criminal, Elizabeth Holmes is simply not treated like her male peers.

Newsletter

Related Articles

TIMES.KY
Close
0:00
0:00
Powell: Silicon Valley Bank was an 'outlier'
Donald Trump arrested – Twitter goes wild with doctored pictures
NYPD is setting up barricades outside Manhattan Criminal Court ahead of Trump arrest.
Credit Suisse's Scandalous History Resulted in an Obvious Collapse - It's time for regulators who fail to do their job to be held accountable and serve as an example by being behind bars.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman tours potential migrant housing in Rwanda as asylum deal remains mired in legal challenges
Paris Rioting vs Macron anti democratic law
'Sexual Fantasy' Assignment At US School Outrages Parents
Credit Suisse to borrow $54 billion from Swiss central bank
Russian Hackers Preparing New Cyber Assault Against Ukraine
Jeremy Hunt insists his Budget will get young parents and over-50s back into work
If this was in Tehran, Moscow or Hong Kong
TRUMP: "Standing before you today, I am the only candidate who can make this promise: I will prevent World War III."
Mexican President Claims Mexico is Safer than the U.S.
A brief banking situation report
Lady bites police officer and gets instantly reaction
We are witnessing widespread bank fails and the president just gave a 5 min speech then walked off camera.
Donald Trump's asked by Tucker Carlson question on if the U.S. should support regime change in Russia?.
Silicon Valley Bank exec was Lehman Brothers CFO
In a potential last-ditch effort, HSBC is considering a rescue deal to save Silicon Valley Bank UK from insolvency
BBC Director General, Tim Davie, has apologized, but not resigned, yet, following the disruption of sports programmes over the weekend
Elon Musk Is Planning To Build A Town In Texas For His Employees
The Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse effect is spreading around the world, affecting startup companies across the globe
City officials in Berlin announced on Thursday that all swimmers at public pools will soon be allowed to swim topless
Fitness scam
Market Chaos as USDC Loses Peg to USD after $3.3 Billion Reserves Held by Silicon Valley Bank Closed.
Senator Tom Cotton: If the Mexican Government Won’t Stop Cartels from Killing Americans, Then U.S. Government Should
Banking regulators close SVB, the largest bank failure since the financial crisis
The unelected UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, an immigrant himself, defends new controversial crackdown on illegal migration
Man’s penis amputated by mistake after he’s wrongly diagnosed with a tumour
In a major snub to Downing Street's Silicon Valley dreams, UK chip giant Arm has dealt a serious blow to the government's economic strategy by opting for a US listing
It's the question on everyone's lips: could a four-day workweek be the future of employment?
Is Gold the Ultimate Safe Haven Asset in Times of Uncertainty?
Spain officials quit over trains that were too wide for tunnels...
Don Lemon, a CNN anchor, has provided a list of five areas that he believes the black community needs to address.
Hello. Here is our news digest from London.
Corruption and Influence Buying Uncovered in International Mainstream Media: Investigation Reveals Growing Disinformation Mercenaries
Givenchy Store in New York Robbed of $50,000 in Merchandise
European MP Clare Daly condemns US attack on Nord Stream
Former U.S. President Carter will spend his remaining time at home and receive hospice care instead of medication
Tucker Carlson called Trump a 'demonic force'
US Joins 15 NATO Nations in Largest Space Data Collection Initiative in History
White House: No ETs over the United States
U.S. Jet Shoots Down Flying Object Over Canada
Being a Tiktoker might be expensive…
SpaceX, the private space exploration company, made a significant breakthrough in their mission to reach space.
China's top tech firms, including Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, NetEase, and JD.com, are developing their own versions of Open AI's AI-powered chatbot, ChatGPT
This shocking picture, showing how terrible is the results of the earthquake in Turkey
President Joe Biden delivered the 2023 State of the Union Address , in order to help Americans that missed the 2022 speech, do not have internet, and suffer from short memory.
The desk of King Carlos Alberto of Sardinia has many secret compartments
Today's news from Britain - 9th February 2023
×