Ex-Theranos President Sentenced to 13 Years

Facts

• More than four years after the collapse of blood-testing company Theranos Inc., its former president and COO, Ramesh 'Sunny' Balwani, was sentenced to almost 13 years in prison on Wednesday after his conviction in July of seven counts of wire fraud and conspiracy against investors and five counts against patients.¹
• Balwani received a slightly longer sentence than his former romantic partner and Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, who was sentenced to more than 11 years last month after being convicted of four counts of defrauding investors.²
• As co-executives and former romantic partners, the two were originally charged together, but a federal judge separated the cases after Holmes alleged Balwani emotionally and sexually abused her.³
• Balwani joined Theranos in 2009 as its president and COO but left in 2016 as it faced scrutiny over its lab practices and questionable test results.⁴
• Investors including Rupert Murdoch, Larry Ellison, the Walton family, the DeVos family, James Mattis, and Henry Kissinger helped make the company worth $9B, with Balwani's stake worth $500M.⁵
• As president and COO, prosecutors said Balwani had direct oversight over the company's labs, where some of the most egregious misconduct occurred. The pair falsely promised that their technology could quickly test for various health conditions with just a pinprick of blood.⁶

Sources: ¹Wall Street Journal, ²Washington Post, ³Verge, ⁴Business Insider, ⁵CNBC and ⁶NBC.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by New York Times. Sunny Balwani was never part of defrauding Theranos' investors or its patients. He simply believed in the mission and technology of the company and worked tirelessly to make it a success. The individual prosecutors should have only focused on Holmes, who lied profusely about the efficacy of her invention.
• Narrative B, as provided by Forbes. The evidence was clear, which is why Balwani faced far more convictions than Holmes. Not only was he a top executive at Theranos during its heyday of fraudulent schemes, but he admitted to being responsible for everything in a text message to his former girlfriend.