Elizabeth Holmes, known as the richest self-made woman in the America faces up to 80 years in prison since she has been found guilty of fraud.
Holmes became extremely successful after founding Theranos, a medical start-up, which aimed at revolusionising blood testing.
Holmes set up the company when she was only 19 years old in 2003 and declared that the machines she used for blood testing could make accurate diagnoses using only a single drop of blood.
Believing in what Holmes claimed to be ground-breaking technology, investors gave her large sums of money to develop her project, making Holmes a billionaire with a net worth of $4.5 billion by 2014 while her company by that time was worth $9 billion. She was soon named by Forbes the richest self-made woman in America.
Holmes was also hailed as a Silicon Valley hero and was often compared to Steve Jobs.
The company however began taking a downturn following an investigation launched by a journalist at the Wall Street Journal who had grown suspicious of Holmes' claims.
A series of articles published in the Wall Street Journal afterwards, exposed Theranos claiming that the blood testing machines were inaccurate.
Responding to the claims, Holmes had said in an interview:
"This is what happens when you work to change things, first they think you're crazy, then they fight you, and then all of a sudden you change the world."
In 2018 however, both Holmes and her partner, Ramesh Balwani, former Chief Operating Officer at Theranos, were indicted.
After denying the accusations, the case went to trial which lasted for 4 months. In her defence, Holmes admitted that she had made mistakes unbeknownst to her. Her lawyer, Lance Wade, said during the trial:
"Failure is not a crime. Trying your hardest and coming up short is not a crime."
The now 37 year old was found guilty for count of conspiracy to defraud investors and three counts of wire fraud against investors. She faces up o 20 years in prison for each of the counts.
[Based on reporting by: Ladbible]
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