Skip to content

The rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes

Once hailed as the "female Steve Jobs," Elizabeth Holmes has been found guilty of knowingly defrauding investors, but found not guilty of defrauding patients.

The BBC's James Clayton spoke to one former investor about the downfall of Theranos, Holmes' Silicon Valley blood testing start-up once valued at $9bn (£7bn).

4 January 2022

Explore More

Joe Tidy holding a phone with the picture of a blonde woman

‘Pig butchering’ scammers target BBC reporter

Rachel Reeves

Reeves on Covid fraud: We want that money back

Lyne Barlow, the holiday scammer from Stanley

How a bogus travel agent orchestrated a £2.6m scam

Elizabeth Holmes

Elizabeth Holmes walks into prison to start sentence

Tejay Fletcher being arrested by police in London

Watch: Moment iSpoof fraudster is arrested

Prof Kevin Curran

'Worst case scenario - you lose all your money'

Northern Ireland

Graphic composite image of Dr Miguel Angel Minero Hibert

'My face was stolen by Ukraine war scammers'

Graeme on Remembrance Sunday

'I'd basically given away my whole life'

Sarah Capper, from Rhyl, Denbighshire, was targeted last month by fraudsters last month

'You don’t realise how vulnerable you can be'

PSNI Supt Gerard Pollock

NI phishing scam victims lose £65,000

Northern Ireland

Kevin O'Brien

Elizabeth Holmes was her own worst enemy - lawyer

Scam victim

Bank scam victims speak of trouble getting refunds

Jon Ironmonger

Bank scammer threatens BBC reporter

To let sign

The scammers renting out other people's homes

Keyframe #1

'I'm sure you've money in the house?'

Northern Ireland

Dan Whitworth

Reporter records phone call with fraudster

Police

Police raid home of vaccine text fraudster

Puppy

'Puppy scammers left me heartbroken'

Police investigating fraud

Hunting down the Covid loan fraudsters

CCTV image of call centre

Criminals on CCTV: Scammers caught red-handed

Rachel Reeves

Watch: Reeves 'deeply proud' to be first female chancellor

The Chancellor has presented her first Budget in the Commons.

Twins James and John Makanjuola,

The twins cleaning London's unloved spaces

Entrepreneurs James and John run a cleaning firm, but take it to the next level in their spare time.

Paula Vennells at the Post Office inquiry

Key moments from former Post Office chief's three-day testimony

Paula Vennells faced three days of questions about her role in the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of sub-postmasters.

Paula Vennells reaching for a tissue in the Post Office inqiuiry

Ex-Post Office boss cries while giving evidence

Ex-Post Office boss Paula Vennells is speaking about the incident for the first time in ten years.

Santiago Paredes

Whistleblower claims Boeing supplier sent faulty parts

Spirit AeroSystems supplied Boeing with faulty parts, a former quality inspector has told the BBC.

Tatti Lashes

Tatti Lashes: The school friends who built a beauty empire

Charlotte Tiplady and Elliot Barton explain how together they built up their Tatti Lashes beauty empire from Liverpool.

Ocado has added robotic arms to its newest warehouse near Luton.

Watch Ocado robots in action

Ocado has added robotic arms to its newest warehouse near Luton.

Business Headlines

BBC World News business headlines

The latest international business headlines from BBC World News.

Jo Hamilton

'I feel survivor's guilt' says Post Office victim

Former sub-postmaster Jo Hamilton told BBC Breakfast she feels "guilt" after settling with the government over the Horizon IT scandal.

Woman in sunglasses smiling while answering questions related to the Budget

Watch: 'My biggest financial regret is...'

People in Kent share their finance stories ahead of Wednesday's Budget. Would you share yours?

Mohsin Issa

Issa brother to step back after 'fixing' Asda

Mohsin Issa, one half of the so-called "billionaire brothers" who own Asda, says he plans to hand over the running of the UK's third biggest supermarket.

Robots

'We had to adapt our robots to the AI revolution'

Sandy Enoch of Robotical explains why he had to pivot his educational robot company due to AI.

Picsart

'AI won't steal your job, but people using it may'

Hovhannes Avoyan, founder of picture and video editing app Picsart, shares his advice for our CEO Secrets series.

Picture of The Body Shop storefront in the 80s

'They thought it was a sex shop' - The Body Shop in the '80s

Archive footage shows Dame Anita Roddick talking about her company's success, in an 1984 interview.

Raid on Co-op store

CCTV shows violent raid on Co-op store

The retailer gave the footage to the BBC as it warned of a rise in attacks on retail staff.

Sir Howard Davies

Not that difficult to buy a home, says NatWest chair

Sir Howard Davies says he believes it is not currently "that difficult" for people to get on the housing ladder.

Joanna Jensen

'A viral Facebook post nearly blew up our business'

Joanna Jensen, founder of skincare brand Childs Farm, shares advice for start-ups for our CEO Secrets series.

Ofcom chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes

Broadband rises must be 'clearer', says Ofcom boss

The regulator has plans to make mobile and broadband firms more upfront about mid-contract price rises.

Earring

'This earring helped me build my £4bn business'

Richard Harpin, co-founder of Homeserve, explains how an earring taught him an early business lesson.

Olivia DeRamus and BBC reporter Lora Jones

'Taking control of my abuse story'

Olivia DeRamus set up an app in the wake of her sexual assault. Now she's ready to take on Big Tech.