Published by Knopf Publishing Group on 21 May 2018
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The full inside story of the breathtaking rise and shocking collapse of a multibillion-dollar startup, by the prize-winning journalist who first broke the story and pursued it to the end in the face of pressure and threats from the CEO and her lawyers.
In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the female Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup "unicorn" promised to revolutionise the medical industry with a machine that would make blood tests significantly faster and easier. Backed by investors such as Larry Ellison and Tim Draper, Theranos sold shares in a fundraising round that valued the company at $9 billion, putting Holmes's worth at an estimated $4.7 billion. There was just one problem: The technology didn't work.
For years, Holmes had been misleading investors, FDA officials, and her own employees. When Carreyrou, working at The Wall Street Journal, got a tip from a former Theranos employee and started asking questions, both Carreyrou and the Journal were threatened with lawsuits. Undaunted, the newspaper ran the first of dozens of Theranos articles in late 2015. By early 2017, the company's value was zero and Holmes faced potential legal action from the government and her investors. Here is the riveting story of the biggest corporate fraud since Enron, a disturbing cautionary tale set amid the bold promises and gold-rush frenzy of Silicon Valley.
How did Elizabeth Holmes fool everyone--her board, investors, employees, and the public?
I've been fascinated by Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes ever since listening to The Dropout podcast miniseries. I immediately requested this book from the library, and whilst waiting for it to come in, I watched The Inventor documentary on HBO. So I must give the disclaimer that it's quite possible that my 5 star rating is due more to my fascination with the case in general than about this book specifically, but nonetheless, I was absolutely gripped reading this account from the man himself who first broke the story to the public in The Wall Street Journal.
I would highly recommend the podcast if you're intrigued by the story and seek easily-digestible entertainment, but if you really want to get into it, I highly recommend the book too! Carreyrou is extremely thorough, and it's crazy to see how many players were involved. Because of Theranos' company culture of fear and secrecy, even many of the employees didn't know the full picture of what was going on in the company. Major props to Carreyrou for piecing it together, and to the brave sources who stepped forward to help Carreyrou break the story, exposing Theranos and saving lives of potential Theranos customers, all in spite of Theranos' intimidation tactics in their effort to keep up their ruse.
This really made me think about how far talking a good talk and having a powerful network can take you. It's astounding what a beautiful young woman surrounded by rich old men can do with a tempting vision and great marketing.
