There’s nothing like a true-crime mini-series to reignite interest in some of the world’s most notable (and terrible) cases. The Dropout is a Hulu original series. The series is based on the narrative of Elizabeth Holmes, a fraudster and disgraced CEO, and follows the story of her medical device company, Theranos, from its climb to renown to its cataclysmic fall from grace. It also looks at the various people that worked for the company and contributed to this intriguing but ultimately scary story about the dangers of Silicon Valley’s startup boom. So, if you’re wondering where everyone is today, we have some information for you.
What happened to Real Elizabeth Holmes?
When Elizabeth launched Theranos, she promised that their main testing equipment, Edison, would be able to identify a variety of medical issues with just a pinprick of a finger. The company was supported by several powerful investors, and the Stanford University dropout was quickly called the “youngest self-made billionaire.” However, starting in 2015, a succession of publications revealed the company as a fraud, with inconsistent test results and fraudulent claims.
Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes punches back against the Wall Street Journal https://t.co/vHVqccuA15 pic.twitter.com/WxLVRIH4V5
— Fast Company (@FastCompany) October 21, 2015
To get extra money, Elizabeth lied about the test’s accuracy and fabricated validation results. The corporation was dissolved in 2018, and she was convicted of three charges of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in January 2022, with each count carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Elizabeth, who is now 38 years old, is due to be sentenced in September 2022 and is currently out on bond. In San Francisco, California, she lives with her husband, Billy Evans, and their child.
What happened to Sunny Balwani?
Until 2016, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani was the COO of Theranos. Before she dropped out of university, he met Elizabeth in the early 2000s. Later, the two were romantically linked and spent more than a decade together in secret. Sunny’s trial is set to begin in March 2022, and authorities believe he played just as important a role in the scheme as Elizabeth. Sunny, on the other hand, invested money because he sincerely believed in the enterprise, according to the defense.
Elizabeth and Sunny’s text messages were recently offered as evidence. “I am responsible for everything at Theranos,” Sunny texted to Elizabeth. Sunny has forcefully disputed Elizabeth’s allegations of emotional and sexual assault during her trial. Sunny will remain free for the duration of the trial, which is planned to last three months. He appears to still reside in California, as far as we can tell.
What happened to Erika Cheung?
Erika Cheung was one of the whistleblowers who exposed Theranos’ flaws with its devices and testing processes. Erika testified during Elizabeth’s trial on the machines’ accuracy, saying, “You’d have about the same luck flipping a coin as to whether your results were true or false.” This level of failure was alarming; this was not typical of a typical lab.”
Erika went on to say that the data was frequently tampered with in order to keep the devices active. Working at Theranos eventually became stressful for her. Erika is now a proponent of a sense of morality in the tech business. She shares her time between New York and California, where she co-founded Ethics in Entrepreneurship.
Where is Tyler Shultz, Now?
Tyler Shultz, a Stanford biology student, met Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes through his grandfather, George Shultz, a former Secretary of State. He was in his early twenties and still in college when he met Elizabeth Holmes in 2011. Tyler went on to work at Theranos after pitching her a concept that he thought was interesting. He did, however, leave after only eight months and was the first to notify regulators about the problems with the devices. Tyler, a biology major, quickly noticed that the firm was conducting experiments on widely available devices rather than Edison, the company’s flagship product.
Tyler Shultz, now in his 30s, was relieved when Elizabeth was found guilty of her actions. “All of a sudden, it was as if a weight was lifted,” he remarked of the verdict. It’s finished. It’s hard for me to realise it’s ended.” He is now the Co-Founder and CEO of Flux Biosciences, a biotechnology business in the reproductive industry. Tyler resides in the Los Gatos area of California. He is engaged to Carolynn Vuong, with whom he plans to marry in June 2022.
What happened to Phyllis Gardner?
In 2002, Elizabeth approached Phyllis, a Stanford Medical School professor, with a concept for a patch that would scan for infections and deliver the necessary antibiotics. Phyllis wasn’t convinced at the time, and she tried to persuade Elizabeth that the patch wasn’t realistic. However, Elizabeth dropped out a year later and went on to found Theranos, which eventually went bankrupt after it was discovered that the company had made several false promises about what its devices could do.
Phyllis, on the other hand, had heard rumours about Theranos before. Elizabeth was adamantly opposed to students’ requests for her to speak at the university. “I support women,” Phyllis stated. I’ve always done it. It’s landed me in trouble before. I’ve put in a lot of effort. But I’m not going to stand behind a liar. “It makes no difference to me what gender you are.” The accomplished professor continues to teach at Stanford and sits on the boards of directors of companies like Revance Therapeutics and CohBar. Aside from that, Phyllis has founded a number of biotech companies and now appears to reside on the university campus.
What happened to Richard Fuisz?
Elizabeth had known the Fuiszes, her next-door neighbors, for a long time. She did, however, bring a lawsuit against Richard, his two sons, and Fuisz Pharma, alleging that they stole a Theranos idea and used it to file a competing patent. After the dispute was settled, neither Elizabeth nor the Fuiszes received anything from the patent.
“The girl has no scientific education,” Richard subsequently said of Elizabeth. She isn’t particularly bright. She is more of a scam artist than a real person. ‘How do you con people?’ she was curious about. ‘How do you win with substance?’ not ‘How do you win with style?’ The 82-year-family old’s business has multiple patents, and he appears to be living with his family in Franklin, Tennessee.
What happened to John Carreyrou?
When John came across Theranos and its creator, Elizabeth Holmes, he had several years of investigative reporting experience in the realm of medicine and health care. He began writing for the Wall Street Journal in 2015, revealing the company’s fraudulent promises and therefore misled investors and consumers. At that point, Elizabeth reportedly tried everything she could to prevent the stories from being published, including apparently pleading with the owner of the Wall Street Journal, Rupert Murdoch, to stop the reporting.
Despite this, John collaborated with Tyler and Erika to learn more about Theranos, eventually publishing a best-selling book titled “Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup.” Aside from that, John currently presents ‘Bad Blood: The Final Chapter,’ a podcast about the same case. He has since left The Wall Street Journal and now lives with his wife, Molly Schuetz, and their three children in Brooklyn, New York. The award-winning reporter is now giving talks about his experiences.
Must Read: Who Are Rakesh Madhava and Edmond Ku From Theranos? Why Did They Quit Theranos?
