Elizabeth Holmes called herself the ‘best businessperson of the year’ and worried about luxury ‘distractions’ from her work in newly released messages to ex-boyfriend Ramesh Balwani before their blood testing company Theranos imploded in 2018.
‘My new life as of this night and forever more: – total confidence in myself best business person of the year – focus – details excellence – don’t give what anyone thinks – engage employees in meetings by stories and making it about them (ie prepare well),’ Holmes texted ‘Sunny’ Balwani in November 2014 while discussing the full moon that evening.
‘No response?’ she wrote 10 minutes later. Balwani answered: ‘Awesome. U r listening and paying attention…’
The texts are part of 600 pages of Skype and text messages obtained by CNBC as Holmes stands trial on nine counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Holmes has since married and had a child with 27-year-old hotel heir Billy Evans, but messages show that the entrepreneur and Balwani were once madly-in-love business partners, even as she plans to accuse him of abuse as part of her defense.
Holmes faces 11 counts of fraud and conspiracy for allegedly defrauding investors with lofty promises of a revolutionary finger-pricking blood testing device called the ‘Edison’
Holmes and Ramesh ‘Sunny’ Balwani, her older ex-boyfriend and the COO of Theranos, were worried about the status of their company as they planned lavish vacations
Balwani was the chief operating officer of Theranos, a company that promised to revolutionize blood testing with a simple finger-prick, when the Wall Street Journal began digging into their too-good-to-be-true claims in 2015.
At its peak, the company was valued at $10 billion and landed its young CEO Holmes on the covers of Forbes and Fortune magazines.
Balwani’s trial on the same charges as Holmes will begin in January.
The trove of messages is an insight into the life of luxury that the pair was suddenly able to afford while courting high-value investors.
In group text chain from April 2015, Holmes’s brother Christian messaged her and Balwani about a trip to Las Vegas.
The pair was considering the $3K-a-night presidential suite at the Four Seasons in Las Vegas
‘The Vegas trip is such a distraction. Bad timing,’ Balwani said in an April 2015 exchange as the company was losing money and top talent, according to financial reports and ex-employees
‘Not sure if these are options but from dan : presidential suite at four seasons $3k,mandarin apex suite view of strip $3400 or presidential $15k, or encore junior suite $700 view of golf course.’
Balwani and Holmes were worried about the timing of the trip, which came at the same time that Theranos was bleeding hundreds of millions of dollars and top talent, according to financial reports and a former employee.
‘People would just disappear and they were leaving without jobs, it was clear the company was grounded to a halt,’ the former Theranos employee told CNBC. ‘That’s a huge red flag.’
Balwani texted Holmes: ‘The Vegas trip is such a distraction. Bad timing. But the guys bought everything non refundable. So we will do it. But then I don’t want distractions until we win.’
‘Then let’s focus on it in our room, do dinner, and go back early,’ Holmes replied.
Holmes, next to then-VP Joe Biden during a visit to Theranos in 2015, bragged about herself in texts: ‘Total confidence in myself best business person of the year – focus – details excellence’
‘I don’t like distractions ever.’
She continued: ‘Dinner can try the three star Michelin French in mgm – can just try all the ones that are top nationally rated and see what we get.’
In another exchange, Balwani said ‘Got table at XS dance [floor],’ and later, ‘Getting private security for u”.
‘Private security?’ Holmes asked.
‘One dedicated security guy with us all night,’ Balwani responded.
Just a few months later, a Wall Street Journalist John Carreyrou would reveal how Theranos performed the ‘vast majority of its tests with traditional machines bought from companies like Siemens AG.’
Holmes and Theranos are the subject of the 2019 HBO documentary The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley.
The film reveals how Holmes attracted powerful men to invest in her company and believe in her vision, going as far as allegedly deepening her voice and wearing black turtlenecks as an ode to Apple’s Steve Jobs.
Holmes and her attorneys plan to argue that some of her inflated statements about the company’s technology were the result of ‘intimate partner abuse’ inflicted by Balwani, according to court documents.
But text messages show Balwani supporting Holmes as she strokes her ego and talks about landing big investments.
‘Just finished calls. Alice Walton in for 50. Confirmed 100 Greg,’ she said in another text from November 2015, presumably referring to Alice Walton of Walmart.
The Walton family invested a total of $150 million in Theranos in 2014.
Balwani responded: ‘Awesome. I was thinking today. They are not investing in our company they are investing in our destiny.’
Holmes continued: “Rupert over 100,” referring to Fox News and Wall Street Journal owner Rupert Murdoch, who eventually invested $125 million in the company.
‘Can’t wait to learn more about conversation with Rupert,’ Balwani texted in response. ‘
‘Very good :)’ Holmes said. ‘He would have met longer.’
Theranos, which Holmes founded in 2003 at the age of 19, officially collapsed in March 2018 when she, Balwani and the $9 billion company were charged with fraud by US regulators.
Holmes has gained a wave of new supporters who call her the ‘#girlboss’ on social media – despite being on trial for fraud over her Silicon Valley blood-testing business.
Holmes faces up to 20 years in prison after being charged with selling a fraudulent service despite allegedly knowing about the shortcomings and inaccuracies in the blood testing tech she promised.
But fans online continue to idolize her and have dubbed themselves ‘Holmies’.
TikToks with the hashtag #ElizabethHolmes have received 13 million views on the platform, with many users imitating Holmes’ mannerisms while wearing her signature black turtleneck.
Three blonde women dressed like Holmes even made an appearance outside Holmes’ courtroom in San Jose, California, on September 9, Insider reports.
Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, faces legal and public scrutiny for her multi-billion dollar start up that promised revolutionary blood testing technology
Women dressed as Holmes came out during her trial on September 9 in support of the troubled entrepreneur as admiration for Holmes continues to grow
While many of the ‘Holmies’ do recognize the charges facing Holmes and the alleged wrongs she had committed against those who trusted her service, they continue to support Holmes – only half jokingly at times.
The hashtags #ElizabethHolmes and #GirlBoss have exploded on social media with many capitalizing on what was once just a joke.
One TikTok user, Rania Blaik, told Insider that she was an Elizabeth Holmes fan as a joke, posting memes about the troubled entrepreneur in June.
But by August, Blaik was selling ‘Elizabeth Holmes is my #GirlBoss’ t-shirts on Etsy for $22.25, promoting the merchandise to more than 10,000 followers.
Another TikTok user, Serena Shahidi, said there was something admirable about Holmes’ rise from Stanford University dropout, to tech billionaire to modern day ‘villain.’
‘I guess there’s empowerment in the idea of having a female villain because that’s typically something that’s like very taboo,’ she said. ‘There is something kind of progressive about the idea that a woman in the news isn’t playing by anyone’s rules.’
One TikToker showed unequivocal support for Holmes even as others pointed out that the billionaire is currently facing trial for fraud
A composite sketch of Holmes at her trial in San Jose, on September 8
On Facebook, pages dedicated to Holmes exist, and like TikTok, Holmes enjoys both sarcastic and genuine followers.
Fans of these pages often comment on news about Holmes with, ‘We believe in you,’ and ‘You go girl!’
Stephen D. Benning, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, told Insider that the phenomenon regarding support for Holmes is nothing new.
The professor, who specializes in personality disorder of psychopathy, said people have longed idolized famous people who have committed crimes.
He said Holmies may think, ‘If someone so competent as Elizabeth Holmes could be taken advantage of so badly, that might help explain some of the problems that I’ve had with people taking advantage of me as well.’
Holmes is charged with ten counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and faces up to 20 years in jail if convinced of the felony charges in a case that has captivated Silicon Valley and the biotech world.
Holmes, left, walked into the federal courhouse with her mother, Noel Holmes, on Friday
A witness, pictured, testified against Holmes during the federal trial on September 8
The firm is accused of lying that it was able to diagnose a multitude of health conditions with a simple blood test, and further lying to Walgreens in order to set up a partnership which saw testing deployed at the retail giant’s drugstores.
Holmes was a Stanford University dropout who started Theranos in 2003 when she was just 19.
She grabbed headlines with her vision of a small machine that could draw a drop of blood from a finger prick could run a range of tests more quickly and accurately than those in conventional laboratories.
Her defense attorney said Holmes was an ambitious young woman who had made mistakes but did not commit a crime.