When Elizabeth Holmes jury deliberations entered its second week, Tyler Shultz got the jitters.
"I decided to deal with it by playing my guitar superloud. I probably disturbed my neighbors," said Shultz, an ex-Theranos employee who played a key role in exposing the once-hyped blood-testing startup. "I had a lot of nervous energy."
For Shultz, the moment had been building for some time. He blew the whistle on Theranos when he was just 22 years old. Now 31, he was ready for closure.
"This story has been unfolding for pretty much my entire adult life," said Shultz, in a long-ranging interview with NPR, from an in-law suite at his parents' home in Silicon Valley's Los Gatos.
On Monday, his phone buzzed with a message from his wife, he said, "It was a text in all caps: GUILTY."
The jury had convicted former Theranos CEO Holmes on four fraud charges tied to investor fraud. Jurors also acquitted her of four counts related to patient fraud. The panel was deadlocked on three other investor fraud-related counts.
To Shultz, it was something else: the end.
"All of a sudden, it was just a weight was lifted," Shultz said. "It's over. I can't believe it's over."
And that, he said, was worthy of a bubbly toast.
"My family said come on down we're popping champagne. We're celebrating," he said.
Shultz was not the only Theranos whistleblower, but he was the first to report troubling findings at the company to regulators. At the time, it was a risky and bold move, and it came at a high cost...
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