Secrets and Lies in Silicon - review by Clive Angel

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Start up

My favourite read of 2018.

“Bad Blood is a gripping account of how the quest for power can lead to deceit and manipulation. One of the most enthralling and disturbing books I have read this year. The narrative significantly exposes the innovative potential of human intellect and the disturbing egotistic drive of human nature. In essence, it is an engaging read throughout. Reads like a Hollywood thriller capturing the euphoria of the high growth tech industry at its worst! ”

Clive Angel

The full inside story of the breathtaking rise and shocking collapse of Theranos.

Secrets and Lies in Silicon Valley. In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO, Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the female Steve Jobs. Namely, a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup “unicorn” promised to revolutionize the medical industry. Significantly, with a machine that would make blood testing rapidly faster and easier.

Backed by investors such as Larry Ellison and Tim Draper. Furthermore, Theranos sold shares in a fundraising round that valued the company at more than $9 billion. Therefore, putting Holmes’s worth at an estimated $4.7 billion.

There was just one problem. In reality, the technology didn’t work.

A riveting story of the biggest corporate fraud since Enron. Coupled with, a tale of ambition and hubris set amid the bold promises of Silicon Valley.

Follow this engrossing story as it unfolds in the mainstream US media:

New York Times Review

Who was Elizabeth Holmes?

Watch the HBO movie. Academy Award winner Alex Gibney (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, HBO’s Emmy-winning Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief) directs a documentary investigating the rise and fall of Theranos, the one-time multibillion-dollar healthcare company founded by Elizabeth Holmes.

The multibillion-dollar biotech start-up. Notably, all lies and no substance.

In 2004, Elizabeth Holmes dropped out of Stanford to start a company that was going to revolutionize healthcare. In 2014, Theranos was valued at $9 billion. Accordingly, Holmes, who was touted as “the next Steve Jobs,” became the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world. Just two years later, Theranos was cited as a “massive fraud” by the SEC, and its value was less than zero.

Chiefly, director Alex Gibney will tell a Silicon Valley tale that was too good to be true. Drawing on extraordinary access to never-before-seen footage and testimony from key insiders. The documentary, with all the drama of a real-life heist, examines how it could have happened. As well as, and who is responsible. Whilst, exploring the psychology of deception.

Watch the movie

Latest updates on Theranos story:

DailyMail.co.uk Nov 25th 2020

Bloomberg Nov 23rd 2020

CNBC Feb 2021: Elizabeth-holmes-resists-government-efforts-to-detail-her-ceo-lifestyle.html

CNBC 5 May 2021: Elizabeth Holmes trial update

CNBC 6 May 2021: Elizabeth Homes lavish lifestyle exposed

The Guardian: 12 March 2021: Elizabeth Holmes-theranos-trial-delay-pregnancy

CNBC 25th May: Elizabeth-holmes-jury-can-hear-limited-evidence-of-ceo-lifestyle.html

CNBC: 5 June 2021:Theranos-is-history-but-big-blood-testing-breakthroughs-are-coming

CNBC 27 August 2021: Former Theranos employees are still shaken as Holmes trial looms: ‘The fear is real’

CNBC 29 August 2021: Elizabeth Holmes plans to claim at trial ex-boyfriend and Theranos business partner abused her