In January, disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes was found guilty on four counts of fraud for lying to investors about her company’s technology, which she claimed could test for hundreds of diseases with a few drops of blood. While she awaits sentencing, her business partner will stand trial for his role in the company’s implosion: former Theranos COO and president Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, who was also Holmes’s boyfriend throughout most of the company’s run.
While many questions remain about Balwani’s role in the Theranos scheme, he definitely wielded a lot of power at the company. Most former Theranos employees and investors didn’t seem to know he and Holmes were dating, but they did know him as an overbearing manager with little knowledge of the science behind Theranos’s machines. In 2018, Holmes and Balwani were indicted together for wire fraud, though Holmes’s lawyers successfully argued to have their cases separated. In her testimony, Holmes claimed that Balwani abused her and manipulated her into lying to her investors, allegations he denies. As Balwani’s trial kicks off in San Jose, California, here’s what to know about his relationship with Holmes and involvement in Theranos.
According to Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou, Holmes met Balwani on a trip to China when she was 18, shortly before she started her freshman year at Stanford. At the time,...
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