Elizabeth Holmes, the former CEO of Theranos, has lost her bid to have her fraud conviction reheard. On Thursday, the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied her request for a rehearing before the original three-judge panel that had upheld her conviction. Additionally, no judge from the court requested a vote to have the entire panel reconsider the case. This decision leaves Holmes with one remaining option: the Supreme Court.
Holmes, now 41 years old, was sentenced to 11 years and 3 months in prison in January 2023 after being found guilty of four counts of wire fraud. She had been accused of misleading investors about the capabilities of Theranos, the blood-testing company she founded in 2003. Theranos, once seen as a promising startup, collapsed after the Wall Street Journal exposed significant issues with the company’s technology. By 2018, Theranos was shut down.
Holmes, along with former Theranos executive Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, who was sentenced to 13 years in prison, was ordered to pay $452 million in restitution. Balwani, who also played a crucial role in Theranos, was both Holmes’ mentor and former lover.
Holmes began serving her sentence at a women’s federal prison in Bryan, Texas, on May 30, 2023. Since then, she has had time shaved off her sentence. In July 2023, nearly two years were removed from her sentence, and in May 2024, her remaining time was reduced by an additional four months. Despite her legal setbacks, Holmes, once a prominent figure in Silicon Valley, remains in the public eye. She has two children, one born before her trial in 2021 and another after her sentencing.
With her appeal now denied, Holmes will need to seek the Supreme Court’s intervention if she wishes to overturn her conviction. This marks the final step in her ongoing legal battle after being convicted for defrauding investors and misrepresenting the potential of her company.
READ MORE: