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Elizabeth Holmes news: Theranos founder surrenders to Texas prison to begin 11-year sentence

Disgraced tech entrepreneur reported to prison in Texas minutes before a court-imposed deadline on Tuesday

Oliver O'Connell,Bevan Hurley
Wednesday 31 May 2023 18:50 BST
Elizabeth Holmes ordered to report to prison May 30

Elizabeth Holmes has reported to prison to begin her 11-year sentence for defrauding investors in her blood-testing Silicon Valley start-up Theranos.

Wearing a beige sweater, jeans and sneakers, the 39-year-old mother of two was directed into Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, by staff from the Federal Bureau of Prisons minutes before a court-imposed deadline of 2pm on Tuesday.

A federal appeals court rejected her bid to remain out of prison earlier this month while she attempts to overturn her January 2022 conviction on four felony counts of fraud and conspiracy.

A delay was granted to give Holmes time to sort out child care for her one-year-old son William and three-month-old daughter Invicta. Holmes had originally been ordered to begin her prison sentence on 27 April.

Holmes spent the Memorial Day weekend with husband Billy Evans and their children near their home in San Diego, before surrendering to authorities in Texas.

She has also been ordered to pay $452m in restitution to out-of-pocket investors, including Rupert Murdoch and Betsy DeVos.

Her former romantic and business partner, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, began serving a nearly 13-year prison sentence last month in Southern California.

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Elizabeth Holmes surrenders to federal prison in Texas to begin 11-year sentence

Elizabeth Holmes has surrendered to a federal prison in Texas to begin her 11-year sentence over the Theranos scandal which rocked the high-flying tech world of Silicon Valley.

The 39-year-old disgraced tech entrepreneur reported to Bryan, the minimum-security federal prison camp in Texas, on Tuesday after exhausting all remaining legal avenues to cling to her freedom.

Holmes was convicted in January 2022 of four counts of fraud and conspiracy for lying about the capabilities of her biotech company’s blood testing technology and conning investors out of millions of dollars.

She was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison and ordered to pay $452m in restitution to investors – including $125m to media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

Rachel Sharp has the full story.

Elizabeth Holmes surrenders to prison to begin 11-year sentence for Theranos scandal

Saga began two decades ago when Holmes dropped out of Stanford University in 2003 at the age of 19 to found Theranos

Bevan Hurley30 May 2023 19:10
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What do we know about the Texas prison holding Elizabeth Holmes?

Disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has begun her 11-year prison sentence after being found guilty of defrauding investors in her Silicon Valley blood-testing startup.

She will serve her time at Federal Prison Camp Bryan in Texas – an all-female facility that is located around 100 miles from Houston.

The minimum security prison houses around 600 inmates, and runs a variety of programmes intended to prepare prisoners for life after incarceration, according to Camp Bryan’s handbook.

Camp Bryan: What we know about the Texas prison holding Elizabeth Holmes

Among the inmates at Camp Bryan is Real Housewives star Jen Shah, while January 6 rioter Jenna Ryan spent a 60-day stretch there in 2021

Bevan Hurley30 May 2023 19:18
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Who is Billy Evans, the husband of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes?

While Elizabeth Holmes’ spectacular fall has been pored over in countless news reports, documentaries, several books, and a TV miniseries, little is known about her marriage to hotel heir William “Billy” Evans.

The couple met in the fall of 2017 at a Fleet Week charity event in San Francisco, as Holmes’ blood-testing business Theranos was under federal investigation.

“I was captivated by her childish wonder and authenticity,” Mr Evans wrote in a gushing letter to the judge ahead of her sentencing last year.

Who is Billy Evans, the husband of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes?

Billy Evans pleaded with a judge not to send his wife to prison, claiming that her ‘capacity to change the world is limitless’. Instead, he faces raising their two young children without her.

Bevan Hurley30 May 2023 19:29
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Selfless visionary or scheming grifter?

From college dropout at 19 to billionaire at 30 and prison at 39, Elizabeth Holmes has had a life trajectory unlike any of her Silicon Valley peers.

Her tainted legacy will continue to be fought over for years to come, Bevan Hurley writes.

Inside Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes’s shocking downfall

From college dropout at 19 to billionaire at 30 and prison at 39, Elizabeth Holmes has had a life trajectory unlike any of her Silicon Valley peers. Her tainted legacy will continue to be fought over for years to come, Bevan Hurley writes

Bevan Hurley30 May 2023 19:50
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Amanda Seyfried says she ‘feels’ for Elizabeth Holmes children

Amanda Seyfried, who portrayed Elizabeth Holmes in The Dropout, says she “feels” for her two young children as reports to prison to begin her 11-year sentence.

Speaking to Good Morning America on Tuesday, the 37-year-old actress said Holmes’ two young children are “hanging in the balance”.

“As a parent, as a mom, I’m just like, life’s not fair, but in a lot of ways it’s fair for her,” she said.

Seyfried won plaudits for her portrayal of the Theranos founder in the 2022 Hulu miniseries The Dropout.

Amanda Seyfried in ‘The Dropout’ (Hulu)
Bevan Hurley30 May 2023 20:04
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Everything we know about disgraced Theranos founder going to jail

Disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has begun her 11-year prison sentence after being found guilty of defrauding investors, including media mogul Rupert Murdoch, over fake claims about the company’s blood-testing capabilities.

Wearing a beige sweater, jeans and sneakers, the 39-year-old mother of two was directed into Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, by staff from the Federal Bureau of Prisons minutes before a court-imposed deadline of 2pm on Tuesday.

As well as being handed jail time over her role in misleading investors, Holmes was also ordered to pay $452m in restitution.

Here’s a comprehensive wrap on how we got to this point.

Elizabeth Holmes prison: Everything we know about Theranos founder going to jail

Inmates at the Texas prison where Holmes is expected to report to on Tuesday are placed into work programmes where some earn as little as 12 cents an hour

Bevan Hurley30 May 2023 20:25
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Watch: Moment Elizabeth Holmes turns herself in to begin prison term

Elizabeth Holmes has turned herself in to prison to begin her 11-year sentence for defrauding wealthy investors in her blood-testing startup hoax Theranos.

Watch the moment Holmes arrives for the start of her 11-year sentence.

Moment Elizabeth Holmes turns herself in to begin prison term

Elizabeth Holmes has turned herself in to prison to begin her 11-year sentence for the blood-testing scam at the heart of her start-up, Theranos. Wearing a beige sweater, jeans and sneakers, Elizabeth Holmes was directed into Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, by staff from the Federal Bureau of Prisons just minutes before a court-imposed deadline of 2pm on 30 May. A federal appeals court rejected her bid to remain out of prison this month while she attempts to overturn her January 2022 conviction on four felony counts of fraud and conspiracy. Sign up to our US newsletter here.

Bevan Hurley30 May 2023 20:45
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Amanda Seyfried reacts to Elizabeth Holmes starting 11-year prison sentence

Amanda Seyfried made a Good Morning America appearance on the same day disgraced tech entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes began her 11-year prison sentence.

“Timing is everything,” host Michael Strahan noted, with Seyfried – who starred as the convicted Theranos founder in Hulu’s 2022 miniseries The Dropout – acknowledging the coincidence: “I heard that. Today’s the big – yeah, weird, you know.

“I feel for those kids. There’s two kids that are hanging in the balance here, as a parent, as a mom...,” she trailed off, uncomfortably.

Inga Parkel has the full story.

Amanda Seyfried reacts to Elizabeth Holmes starting 11-year prison sentence

Seyfried portrayed the disgraced tech entrepreneur in Hulu miniseries ‘The Dropout’

Bevan Hurley30 May 2023 21:05
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Who is Billy Evans, the husband of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes?

While Elizabeth Holmes’ spectacular fall has been pored over in countless news reports, documentaries, several books, and a TV miniseries, little is known about her marriage to hotel heir William “Billy” Evans.

The couple met in the fall of 2017 at a Fleet Week charity event in San Francisco, as Holmes’ blood-testing business Theranos was under federal investigation.

“I was captivated by her childish wonder and authenticity,” Mr Evans wrote in a gushing letter to the judge ahead of her sentencing last year.

Mr Evans pleaded with a judge not to send his wife to prison, claiming that her “capacity to change the world is limitless”.

Instead, he faces raising their two young children without her.

Who is Billy Evans, the husband of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes?

Billy Evans pleaded with a judge not to send his wife to prison, claiming that her ‘capacity to change the world is limitless’. Instead, he faces raising their two young children without her.

Bevan Hurley30 May 2023 21:30
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What we know about the Texas prison holding Elizabeth Holmes

Disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has begun her 11-year prison sentence after being found guilty of defrauding investors in her Silicon Valley blood-testing startup.

She will serve her time at Federal Prison Camp Bryan in Texas — an all-female facility that is located around 100 miles from Houston.

The minimum security prison houses around 600 inmates, and runs a variety of programmes intended to prepare prisoners for life after incarceration, according to Camp Bryan’s handbook.

Among the inmates at Camp Bryan is Real Housewives of Salt Lake Cityreality TV star Jen Shah, who is serving six years behind bars for wire fraud. Shah has posted several blog entries from the prison, which she said does not have “many kind people in this place”.

Former inmates include Jenna Ryan, the Texas real estate agent convicted of participating in the January 6 riots.

According to the Wall Street Journal, John Carreyrou’s 2018 book Bad Blood which documented her rise and fall is available in the prison library.

Camp Bryan: What we know about the Texas prison holding Elizabeth Holmes

Among the inmates at Camp Bryan is Real Housewives star Jen Shah, while January 6 rioter Jenna Ryan spent a 60-day stretch there in 2021

Bevan Hurley30 May 2023 22:00

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