After serving more than two years of her sentence, Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of the now-disgraced blood testing company Theranos, is now expected to be released three months earlier than originally anticipated. Originally sentenced to serve 11 years after reporting to prison last May, Holmes is now set to be released by Labor Day 2032.
NBC News reported that the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) website recently updated Holmes’s release date from December 29th to August 16, 2032, marking another reduction in her sentence. The BOP explained that such reductions can occur for reasons like good behavior or completion of certain programs aimed at addressing factors that may reduce recidivism, such as mental health and financial literacy. Holmes’s lawyer did not respond to NBC’s request for comment.
Theranos, founded by Holmes in 2003 at the age of 19, had promised to revolutionize blood testing by using small sample sizes from a single pinprick. However, a 2015 Wall Street Journal exposé revealed that the company’s tests did not live up to their claims and operated similarly to traditional blood tests. Holmes was convicted of fraud and ordered to pay $452 million in restitution. Prior to her conviction, she settled a civil suit with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which accused her and co-founder Sunny Balwani of perpetrating a “massive fraud” on customers and investors. Theranos ceased operations in 2018.
Holmes’s story, which serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of blind trust in charismatic Silicon Valley figures, has captured widespread attention. It has inspired a best-selling book by the journalist who uncovered her deceptions, as well as documentaries from ABC and HBO exploring her rise and fall. Additionally, a Hulu series has dramatized her story.
