But behind this dazzling facade, all was not well. As federal prosecutors would later allege, the Silicon Valley tech firm, its evangelizing inventor, and her one-time boyfriend were peddling snake oil: Theranos' device simply did not work.
Now Holmes, 37, is about to stand trial, and ex-Theranos employees are watching closely. Some describe themselves as survivors of a startup ruled by paranoia, subterfuge, bullying, and retaliation. And they want Holmes to pay.
Justin Maxwell, who worked at the company as a designer from 2007 to 2008 said:
"We knew Theranos to be a deceptive organization, but we had to chill out and not say anything about it because they would make our lives difficult. There are some people who probably had to go to therapy for this, and there's one person on the team who died from suicide."Holmes and Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, her ex-boyfriend and the former president of Theranos, are both charged with defrauding investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars and endangering patients with a technology that didn't function as advertised. The pair, who will be tried separately, each pleaded not guilty to nine counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
















Comment: How many other state legislatures should be in these same or similar crosshairs?