Theranos' Death Rattle

[Fudge Nuggets 19,276]

Good grief, how many hamstrings were pulled jumping to those conclusions?

[52-80 19,279]

37 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

A shockingly stupid article from a shockingly stupid author. 

the 2nd part about the author not that shocking anymore

[MAUFRAIS 6,678]

Good grief, how many hamstrings were pulled jumping to those conclusions?

Pulling a hamstring sounds like what Richard Gere does after he cums.

[Chewbacca 7,793]

4 hours ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

White, politically connected females don’t go to prison any more.  She will pay a fine and not be allowed to serve as a director or officer of any company for a couple of years and that will be about the extent of it.

By 2025 she will launch her next start up that sells cold fusion powered dildos.

If Martha Stewart can go to jail, Elizabeth Holmes most definitely needs to go.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,276]

Martha was a celebrity. she was no where near as connected as this psychopath cunt.

[Buzzrock 15,026]

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/15/opinion/elizabeth-holmes-trial-sexism.html

The Elizabeth Holmes Trial Is a Wake-Up Call for Sexism in Tech

There are two people on trial, a man and a woman. Sexism!

[tigol 2,421]

I'm listening to this podcast right now and I read the book.  Given this is how I make a living it is really hitting home to me.  
CSB warning: Around 2014 Theranos sent a couple of representatives to our lab to "evaluate" their technology.  They met us in one of our conference rooms, made us sign NDAs and passed around notebooks supposedly outlining their technology.  We flipped through it and listened to their spiel.  Afterwards we said "That all sounds great, but where is your data?  I don't see anything in your presentation materials that remotely supports the claims you are making.  You are welcome to come back with data, or more ideally loan us one of your machines for us to evaluate ourselves then we can talk endorsement and sales."
We never heard from them again. 
She deserves to do real jail time.

I’m in the industry as well and she sure a shit belongs in jail. Have you read their CLIA findings?

[Dontshootrude 374]

4 hours ago, tigol said:

I’m in the industry as well and she sure a shit belongs in jail. Have you read their CLIA findings?

I've only read the letter.  Do you have a link to the full report?

[tigol 2,421]

30 minutes ago, Dontshootrude said:

I've only read the letter.  Do you have a link to the full report?

The Dark Report:

https://www.darkdaily.com/2016/04/14/cms-notifies-theranos-of-clia-sanctions-that-include-revoking-clinical-laboratorys-clia-license-and-a-two-year-ban-on-holmes-balwani-and-dhawan-414/

[Blotto 23,705]

Quote

Former US Defense Secretary James Mattis has revealed how much he invested in the now-defunct blood-testing startup Theranos.

Mattis took the stand Wednesday in the fraud trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, testifying that he invested nearly $85,000 in the company, an amount he said was significant for someone who had worked in government for 40 years, according to reporting by the Wall Street Journal.

Mattis also recalled the moment Holmes asked him to join Theranos' board. "I cautioned her I was not a medical person," he said, noting that Holmes said she valued a variety of backgrounds among board members.

Mattis ultimately joined the board after leaving active duty in 2013. He said he received $150,000 a year to serve on the board. He testified that he invested and joined the board to "have skin in the game."

Offered a chance to invest $85K in one of silicon valley's highest profile startups  at some pre IPO valuation, and paid  $150K /yr for his sacrifice (and military connections)

[52-80 19,279]

Major General since the year ~2000, im sure Mattis was really broke, and 85k was such a hardship, and 1/2th of 1 year of his salary (for sitting through board meetings) in equity im sure skinned the dude raw....

[Aqua Buddha 14,654]

Mattis also recalled the moment Holmes asked him to join Theranos' board. "I cautioned her I was not a medical person," he said, noting that Holmes said she valued a variety of backgrounds among board members.

 

Neither was she.

[billfromlaketravis 11,605]

Mattis is the only investor I feel bad for. All the Marines I know really liked serving under him. He seems like a good man that should have stayed out of the VC world. I hope he recoups his money in a book deal. 

[TwiceHorn 31,686]

49 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Mattis also recalled the moment Holmes asked him to join Theranos' board. "I cautioned her I was not a medical person," he said, noting that Holmes said she valued a variety of backgrounds among board members.

 

Neither was she.

I don't care how smart you might be, you would have to be a rare savant to teach yourself a useful amount of chemical or biomedical engineering. She wasn't in the program at Stanford long enough to get that.  She might have picked up just enough on her own in the narrow field of Theranos' business to fake it, but that's about it.

[Liquor and Poker 3,659]

Does anyone know anything about her from Houston?  She went to St. John's.  She made it seem like she had no friends and was a total book nerd in interviews, but in the documentary they showed she had one of those fancy full page paid-for tributes in her senior yearbook.  That's not the typical move for a friendless loser.

[Da Fino 2,797]

6 minutes ago, Liquor and Poker said:

Does anyone know anything about her from Houston?  She went to St. John's.  She made it seem like she had no friends and was a total book nerd in interviews, but in the documentary they showed she had one of those fancy full page paid-for tributes in her senior yearbook.  That's not the typical move for a friendless loser.

I know people that knew her at St. Johns. None of them were surprised that she was full of shit in the end. She did not have many friends. 

[Scipio 61]

47 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Mattis is the only investor I feel bad for. All the Marines I know really liked serving under him. He seems like a good man that should have stayed out of the VC world. I hope he recoups his money in a book deal. 

He's a grown man and his own greed/ignorance got the best of him. He allowed Theranos to use his good name as a credibility signal to bilk others.  

Theranos didn't target SV smart money for the most part - they were focused on East Coast and Washington DC elite money who were gonna get rich on this Silicon Valley startup thing they'd read about in the New York Times.  "It seems that this technology thing is here to stay! We're buying Google at a $1.50! Look at the names on their board!  And a visionary woman CEO!"

That's why they had a board of directors comprised of Kissinger, Schultz, Mattis, Perry, Nunn - for the DC or East Coast investor that's a blessing from an old establishment who are "plugged in" and must know something we proles do not. In essence, it was a signal to the dumb smart who operate based on credentialism, sweetheart deals, bullshit guided contracts, and implied associations rather than substance. 

Madoff, redux. 

 

 

[Laxtonto 12,639]

43 minutes ago, Scipio said:

He's a grown man and his own greed/ignorance got the best of him. He allowed Theranos to use his good name as a credibility signal to bilk others.  

Theranos didn't target SV smart money for the most part - they were focused on East Coast and Washington DC elite money who were gonna get rich on this Silicon Valley startup thing they'd read about in the New York Times.  "It seems that this technology thing is here to stay! We're buying Google at a $1.50! Look at the names on their board!  And a visionary woman CEO!"

That's why they had a board of directors comprised of Kissinger, Schultz, Mattis, Perry, Nunn - for the DC or East Coast investor that's a blessing from an old establishment who are "plugged in" and must know something we proles do not. In essence, it was a signal to the dumb smart who operate based on credentialism, sweetheart deals, bullshit guided contracts, and implied associations rather than substance. 

Madoff, redux. 

 

 

It’s amazing once you look back how often this same style con gets repackaged and used on the naive old money. The sad part is that we only hear of the big fish scams and yet there are tons of these at a smaller scale all the time.

[Scipio 61]

9 minutes ago, Laxtonto said:

It’s amazing once you look back how often this same style con gets repackaged and used on the naive old money. The sad part is that we only hear of the big fish scams and yet there are tons of these at a smaller scale all the time.

Absolutely. The classic cons are just repackaged, exploited base desires the ancient Greeks wrote about. The Spanish Prisoner now comes to you via Nigerian emailers. 

The con in con man stands for confidence. How a swindler plays to your confidence determines the grift's efficacy. The conned are the most ardent defenders of the con artist until it's all laid bare. Even well after. Because they're defending their own sense of self. 

Madoff's time honored long con strategy once he got some scale was in refusing to allow people to invest with him. "No, no we are full. I can't help you. I'm sorry." The person presses him more. "Look, this isn't the right move for you. Our investors are aggressive, bold, confident." The prospective client begs.  "Please Bernie, please. Fit me in." Bernie would relent after making a great show fo asking an underling if they could make room.  "Yes, but only in the next 24 hours, Bernie. A spot just opened up. And it has to be an XXXX commitment!" Madoff reluctantly consents while shaking his head at the investor's good fortune. You think the investor who begged to get in will be asking for quarterlies? Financials? He is grateful. He is now part of an elite, secret club of stars and socialites. 

Watch this scene from Goodfellas for a similar street level con. The restaurant owner implores Paulie to take an interest in the place and "protect him"....from Paulie's own guys. Paulie plays the coy refusal, mob style and finally agrees to help him out. Dude leaves that meeting thinking he's been done a favor.  They rob him blind and burn it down. 

NSFW (language)

 

 

[Aqua Buddha 14,654]

So, an active duty general got a sweetheart deal in a medical company and was openly considering pushing it to the military?  Do I understand that correctly?

[XYZ 2,154]

40 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

So, an active duty general got a sweetheart deal in a medical company and was openly considering pushing it to the military?  Do I understand that correctly?

In this age where governors of the fucking central bank of the USA are buying and selling stocks, anything goes.

[DonkeyCigars 143]

John Carryou giving props to the defense team. Seems like Holmes as a puncher's chance:

Quote

 

So now the composition of the jury is, I believe, eight men and four women. And, of the eight men, five of them appear to be older white men.

That’s a demographic Holmes was good at playing to—her investors, her board.

It was hard to read those jurors as they were listening to opening arguments. I thought the prosecution did a decent job with its opening argument: they kept it pretty simple and to the point. I also found the defense’s opening argument impressive. They hit the points that I expected them to: they tried to humanize Holmes as much as they could, and make the argument that, you know, she was an entrepreneur who failed, but not necessarily a crook. And they teased their potential Svengali defense, which would be to lay a lot of the blame on Sunny, and to allege that he abused Elizabeth and was controlling her.

I don’t know what to expect. I think the odds are still probably in favor of a conviction, just because of the numbers. The last year for which I found data was 2018, when eighty-three per cent of federal criminal defendants who chose to take their cases to trial ended up being convicted.

But all those other defendants aren’t Elizabeth Holmes. She’s a chameleon. She’s got incredible charisma. I think she’s a great actress. If she goes on the stand to elaborate on this Svengali defense, then I expect her to come off as, like, this naïve young woman. I think she’s going to sell that image hard to the jury. I’m certainly not a hundred-per-cent confident that it’s going to result in a conviction.

 

 

[Fudge Nuggets 19,276]

12 hours ago, Aqua Buddha said:

So, an active duty general got a sweetheart deal in a medical company and was openly considering pushing it to the military?  Do I understand that correctly?

We should feel sorry for him, because reasons and shit.

[XYZ 2,154]

11 hours ago, DonkeyCigars said:

John Carryou giving props to the defense team. Seems like Holmes as a puncher's chance:

 

So…the situation is fluid.

[DonkeyCigars 143]

On Wednesday morning, before the proceedings, Judge Davila called a juror into the courtroom to discuss Buddhism. The juror, an older Asian woman, said she had become increasingly distressed about the trial. Her Buddhist practice is centered on love and forgiveness, she said, and it would be difficult for her to vote to convict Ms. Holmes. The juror said she could not follow the judge’s instructions to avoid thinking about punishment.

“What if she had to be in there for a long, long time,” she said, her voice breaking. The juror said she would blame herself.

Lawyers from both sides agreed to dismiss her.

The replacement juror, a young woman, had her own concerns. English was not her first language, she said. “It’s her future,” she said of Ms. Holmes. “I could make a mistake.”

The juror said she had understood all of the proceedings thus far. Judge Davila did not allow her to leave.

[MAUFRAIS 6,678]

I thought all life was suffering. What’s a little more then?

[billfromlaketravis 11,605]

On 10/8/2021 at 9:56 AM, DonkeyCigars said:

On Wednesday morning, before the proceedings, Judge Davila called a juror into the courtroom to discuss Buddhism. The juror, an older Asian woman, said she had become increasingly distressed about the trial. Her Buddhist practice is centered on love and forgiveness, she said, and it would be difficult for her to vote to convict Ms. Holmes. The juror said she could not follow the judge’s instructions to avoid thinking about punishment.

“What if she had to be in there for a long, long time,” she said, her voice breaking. The juror said she would blame herself.

Lawyers from both sides agreed to dismiss her.

The replacement juror, a young woman, had her own concerns. English was not her first language, she said. “It’s her future,” she said of Ms. Holmes. “I could make a mistake.”

The juror said she had understood all of the proceedings thus far. Judge Davila did not allow her to leave.

Like I said, Holmes walks. The feds rolled over in jury selection. 
 

The only solace I’ll take from this is that Holmes will struggle for the rest of her days to pay her high 8 figure legal bills. 

[Johnny Chimpo 481]

2 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Like I said, Holmes walks. The feds rolled over in jury selection. 
 

The only solace I’ll take from this is that Holmes will struggle for the rest of her days to pay her high 8 figure legal bills. 

Will she ? Isn’t she married to a billionaire / hundred millionaire now? 

[billfromlaketravis 11,605]

1 minute ago, Johnny Chimpo said:

Will she ? Isn’t she married to a billionaire / hundred millionaire now? 

I believe Billy Evan’s father is worth $600 million. We’ll see if he’ll pay his DIL’s legal bills. 
 

I sure as hell wouldn’t. 

[Cajun 11,764]

On 9/17/2021 at 10:28 AM, billfromlaketravis said:

A shockingly stupid article from a shockingly stupid author. 

It's the NYT, nothing shocking about it.

They've been a pseudo tabloid for well over a decade now.

[DonkeyCigars 143]

9 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Like I said, Holmes walks. The feds rolled over in jury selection. 
 

The only solace I’ll take from this is that Holmes will struggle for the rest of her days to pay her high 8 figure legal bills. 

I don't know if she walks, but I think it's a 50/50 jump ball at least right now.

I've started to hear bits of "she's a woman and this is why it's a big deal, silicon valley/start-up culture lying is okay when men do it" from reputable news.

[Zwylde 813]

She deserves what she gets but so does the Devos’ family for being total dipshits with their fortune.

 

https://www.rawstory.com/holmes-devos/
 

 

[billfromlaketravis 11,605]

They released a third juror because she was playing sudoku on her phone. I think the upheaval probably favors Holmes. 
 

I think Sonny will plea out. He is fortunate to be tried after Holmes. He’ll probably get a decent deal. 

[jeevsie 3,740]

SMH, not even candy crush.

[Deej 77,176]

On 10/30/2021 at 8:00 PM, billfromlaketravis said:

They released a third juror because she was playing sudoku on her phone. I think the upheaval probably favors Holmes. 
 

I think Sonny will plea out. He is fortunate to be tried after Holmes. He’ll probably get a decent deal. 

Why would you be allowed your phone in the jury box?

[XYZ 2,154]

24 minutes ago, Deej said:

Why would you be allowed your phone in the jury box?

Why do you hate America?

[TKthunder2 5,017]

33 minutes ago, Deej said:

Why would you be allowed your phone in the jury box?

Translators maybe 

[billfromlaketravis 11,605]

32 minutes ago, TKthunder2 said:

Translators maybe 

Yeah, one of the jurors’ first language isn’t English. I’m all for being inclusive and new Americans participating in the democratic process, but this juror should have been dismissed. 
 

ABC News thinks they’re steaming towards a mistrial. Some heads are going to roll in the Justice Department if this happens. 

[NoName 16,621]

On 10/30/2021 at 8:00 PM, billfromlaketravis said:

They released a third juror because she was playing sudoku on her phone. I think the upheaval probably favors Holmes. 
 

I think Sonny will plea out. He is fortunate to be tried after Holmes. He’ll probably get a decent deal. 

I am pretty sure she was just playing Suduku on paper in her binder, not on phone.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,276]

21 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Yeah, one of the jurors’ first language isn’t English. I’m all for being inclusive and new Americans participating in the democratic process, but this juror should have been dismissed. 
 

ABC News thinks they’re steaming towards a mistrial. Some heads are going to roll get fucking paid in the Justice Department if this happens. 

What you really meant to say...

[OneOfTheOutOfFocusGuys 2,119]

I’m very excited for the movie version because Jennifer Lawrence with a husky voice intrigues me.

[Zwylde 813]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10234989/Holmes-arrives-court-testify-day-Theranos-fraud-trial.html

 

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes on Tuesday admitted to doctoring Theranos lab reports with Pfizer and Schering-Plough company logos before she sent them to Walgreens, but she denied misrepresenting the now-defunct company's work.

Holmes, 37, took the stand for a third day and denied lying to Walgreens about the blood-testing technology that was said to be able to run diagnostics faster and more accurately than traditional lab testing. 

Prosecutors have said that adding the pharma giants' logos was an attempt to pass off Theranos' conclusions as theirs.

[billfromlaketravis 11,605]

Holy shit. Holmes took the stand and admitted wrongdoing. 

[billfromlaketravis 11,605]

Fourth day of jury deliberations. Feels like a hung jury, but what the hell do I know?  

[TexasEd 8,146]

Yep, came here to post this:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/elizabeth-holmes-jury-fails-to-reach-verdict-set-to-reconvene-tuesday-003334138.html

 

Quote

After four full days of deliberations in the fraud case against Elizabeth Holmes, no verdict was reached by the time jurors were excused on Thursday afternoon.

Deliberations in the case, which includes more than 900 exhibits and testimony from 32 witnesses, including Holmes herself, resumed Monday following a three-day weekend due to a court holiday Friday. Deliberations are scheduled to resume at the federal courthouse in San Jose on Tuesday, starting at 8:30 a.m. Pacific Time.

Holmes, 37, awaits her fate on 11 counts of criminal fraud and conspiracy first claimed in a superseding indictment, claiming she used her now defunct blood-testing company, Theranos, to defraud investors and customers. The biotech founder, first indicted in 2018, led the startup for approximately 15 years before it collapsed after a Wall Street Journal investigation exposed that Theranos could not conduct an array of blood tests from a finger prick of blood as Holmes had suggested.

 

[Rudiger 1,178]

On 12/27/2021 at 10:40 AM, billfromlaketravis said:

Fourth day of jury deliberations. Feels like a hung jury, but what the hell do I know?  

Hard to make guesses like this. The jury is likely struggling to understand the instructions and verdict form. 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,541]

Jury ends deliberations for the week. 6 total days so far.

It's possible that Holmes' partner abused her and even directed her to act like she did in lying to investors. If so, prosecutors should be looking to adding charges on his prosecution. But that shouldn't be a defense for what she did. She had plenty of opportunity to tell her investors the truth about their lack of progress. She's a grown woman with fiduciary responsibility of a $1 billion. 

It's depressing when a high powered female founder/CEO fails and breaks the law, her defense is that she was a puppet of her male partner (life & business.)

[TwiceHorn 31,686]

32 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Jury ends deliberations for the week. 6 total days so far.

It's possible that Holmes' partner abused her and even directed her to act like she did in lying to investors. If so, prosecutors should be looking to adding charges on his prosecution. But that shouldn't be a defense for what she did. She had plenty of opportunity to tell her investors the truth about their lack of progress. She's a grown woman with fiduciary responsibility of a $1 billion. 

It's depressing when a high powered female founder/CEO fails and breaks the law, her defense is that she was a puppet of her male partner (life & business.)

I suppose the other thing is the factor by which women are consistently sentenced to less time than men.

[Guest Lobo]

20 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

I suppose the other thing is the factor by which women are consistently sentenced to less time than men.

Yeah, that's a gender-biased statistic you don't hear much clamoring to change.  "Women only get 70% of the sentence that men get for doing the same crime, I mean...job!"

[TurkeyChew 383]

Low key this defense attorney/team has done an outstanding job, it seems, no matter the end result. They took a steaming turd-burger and at worst, have given the jury heartburn about the case. At best, they will skate on some charges.