As you may remember, in 2001, the American Motorola Company was defrauded by Telsim, owned by Cem Uzan; He announced that he had suffered a loss of 2 billion dollars and that he had taken the matter to court. Years have passed, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge, and today there has been an incredible case of fraud in America, even in Silicon Valley, in the heart of America.
Recently The USA and the world are shaken by a fraud story. If the allegations are confirmed and the judiciary decides in this direction; main protagonist of the event Elizabeth HolmesA very serious compensation and prison sentence awaits him. Alright; Jealous of Jet Fadil, Pheasant Osman, Cem Uzan and Tosuncuk; What is the origin of this event that shook Silicon Valley and the USA?
Actually, this phenomenon is not new; The indictment began to be prepared 3 years ago and has just been completed. In other words, it is an event that broke out in 2018. Elizabeth Holmes; in 2003 theranos He establishes a company named, and takes over as CEO of this company. This company is ostensibly being touted as a company dealing with the healthcare industry. But the essence of the matter is actually quite different.
Father’s daughter: Elizabeth Holmes
Elizabeth Holmes; Born in 1984, now 37 years old, and most importantly, one of the grandchildren of the famous Fleischmann Family. Holmes’ father Enron Case, one of the biggest corruption cases in the USA. was one of the main actors. So much so that we can easily say that her daughter followed in her father’s footsteps. Holmes was brought up in a middle-class family. The family looking for their old flashy days; From an early age he instilled in Holmes the idea that “family names should be re-announced to the whole world”. After a while, Holmes became obsessed with becoming a billionaire. Of course, no one expected such a performance from Holmes.
University life is changing
Holmes dropped out of Stanford University’s Chemical Engineering department in his sophomore year. As it can be understood from here, Holmes is not an empty person. With a few teachers at Stanford the idea of doing hundreds of tests with a drop of blood. sharing. His teachers also made this idea contrary to human biology. He refuses because he found it. Except, of course, Channing Robertson, Dean of the School of Engineering at Stanford University, Professor of Chemistry. Robertson is impressed by Holmes’ idea and sends Holmes to Silicon Valley with his reference. Holmes is taking the first steps to found Theranos in Silicon Valley, thanks to Robertson’s reference. Here he meets many investors thanks to Robertson’s reference.
With the investments collected Holmes, who founded Theranos in 2003; he says that a new technology has been discovered and that a new era will be opened in medicine with this technology. According to Holmes, hundreds of analyzes were possible with a single drop of blood sample. As a company, they set out to invite investors to this technology. So much so that they found many victims on this road. World-renowned media groups are among these victims. Billionaire Rupert Murdock, owner of News Corporation and Fox Group, Lawrence Joseph Ellison, owner of Oracle software and the title of the 15th richest person in the world, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, who was the richest person in the world in 2011 and the Walton Family, which is at the top of the retail industry. Allegedly, Holmes was one of these investors in the first place. 900 million dollars raised investment.
The power behind the trust in the company
Perhaps the point that convinces investors the most Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Former Secretary of Defense William Perry and Former Secretary of the Treasury George Shultz and many other highly respected bureaucrats were persuaded to take part in the board of directors. Also, Holmes a big fan of Steve Jobs is; It is known that he dressed just like Steve Jobs, made effective presentations like him, fed like Jobs, and transferred some of the senior employees working in Jobs’ team to his own company. In this period, it was promised that the products produced by the company would also be used in the Afghanistan War. All of these played a key role in attracting investors to the company.
Theranos’ reputation grows
Theranos and Holmes quickly became Silicon Valley stars. such that Theranos is the fastest growing company; Holmes is the youngest billionaire took the title. Holmes, who has been on the cover of veteran magazines such as Forbes and Fortune, gave a conference with Former US President Clinton. It is also known that the voice of Holmes, whose reputation is increasing, is very remarkable. As the fruit of all this fame and power show, Holmes, USA’s most famous pharmacy chain Walgreens. He hit the jackpot with his contract with .
Does the state sleep in this process?
This fictitious technology and dishonest company; You may have wondered where the huge US control mechanism is in this story as we continue to shake our heads. Affiliated with the US Department of Health FDA (Food and Drug Administration) It is a unit that deals with inspections of the health sector, but due to FDA authorization limits, it cannot inspect the studies in private laboratories. Holmes also took advantage of this opportunity, escaping himself from the controls. In short, the company; He said that we can do hundreds of tests with 1 drop of blood sample, and the FDA had to believe this statement with their hands tied.
A new player enters the company: Balwani
to Theranos Company in 2009 COO with his duty Ramesh Sunny Balwani joined. Balwani as COO; He became the number two person in the company. Balwani; Born in 1965, 56 years old Indian businessman. Balwani and Holmes; He meets in China before Theranos. When Balwani met Holmes, he was a 37-year-old billionaire and Holmes was an excited 18-year-old girl. During this period, there was a short-term emotional relationship between them. It is possible that during this period Balwani made many promises to Holmes.
So, is there no truth-telling personnel in this company?
The question may come to your mind, “Is there not a brave man who will say, “People are being deceived here”? Holmes had thought of that too. This is exactly why the legal infrastructure of the company David Boies, one of the most famous lawyers in the USA. has been entrusted. David Boies; especially “US Government – Microsoft“, and “Gay rights in US law” is known for his victories in his cases and is known as the most influential lawyer in the USA. In short, Theranos’ legal infrastructure was entrusted to a solid lawyer. David Boies had all the personnel in the company sign contracts with very heavy sanctions. In this contract, the personnel of the company expected huge penalties if the confidential information of the company was shared. So much so that the personnel were loaded with messages such as “rival companies and various states are after our technology”. In this way, the company’s dirty water always flowed inside and did not overflow outside. Again in this period, Balwani’s rigid structure, which was in a very important position in the company, was also effective. Indeed, Balwani; He was a boss known for the pressure he put on his employees.
Black box; you get too much attention
Over time, the product of Theranos began to be questioned by some quarters. Because information about the product was not shared and a black box was being watched. Finally the first bullet John Carreyrou, the intrepid journalist of the Wall Street Journal thrown by. Those who put this bullet in the barrel are former senior staff of Theranos. Alan Beam, Tyler Shultz and Erika Cheung it happened. These three prominent names are; Leaving the company and sharing company secrets with Carreyrou despite a major legal sanction. In the information they shared, it was understood that “there is no such technology, everything is a hoax”.
After this news of Carreyrou, a very prestigious pen, things got mixed up. Your assays are not on the Theranos device; It turned out that it was examined with Siemens brand device and traditional methods. The FDA immediately began to closely monitor the Therenos Company and banned blood test examinations as a first step. One semester The company value, which sees $ 9 billion in the stock market, is up to zero. landed.
Judicial process
The final decision on this fraud case that went down in history will be made by the US Judiciary. About the event; the architect of the event was Balwari, At some point Holmes wanted to withdraw from the event but continued because of Balwari’s threats., that Balwari used Holmes as a puppetNS There are also advocates. It is claimed that this event is a good story for Hollywood and that preparations are made for the big screen side of the issue, and even Jennifer Lawrence will play Holmes. Finally, HBO’s documentary The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley, which tells the Theranos Incident, stands out as a production worth watching.