Why Did Sunny Balwani And Elizabeth Holmes Split? While working at Theranos, Sunny Balwani and Elizabeth Holmes had a romantic relationship. Continue reading to find out why they split.
As Amanda Seyfried and Naveen Andrews’ portrayal of Elizabeth Holmes and Sunny Balwani receives positive feedback, Us Weekly has compiled all the information you need to know about their relationship.
Elizabeth Holmes, his then-girlfriend, founded Theranos, a privately held health technology company.
Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, an American businessman and convicted fraudster, was their previous president and chief operating officer.
He was the second-most important figure in the demise of Theranos, which deceived investors by claiming to have developed a new blood test that only required a small amount of blood, similar to that from a fingerstick.
Were Sunny Balwani And Elizabeth Holmes Married?
They became friends when Holmes attended Stanford’s Mandarin program in China in 2002, the same year he filed for divorce from his then-wife Keiko Fujimoto. Balwani is 19 years older than Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes.
Despite developing an unusual bond, they did not begin dating until 2004.
Holmes dropped out of college that year to pursue a product that allegedly could run medical tests using only a tiny amount of blood collected from a finger prick.
Although Balwani did not officially join the Company until 2009, John Carreyrou stated in Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup that he was giving her business advice while pursuing his own ventures.
They allegedly kept their romance hidden from investors. Soon after the couple split up, Holmes and Balwani were charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and nine counts of wire fraud.
Then, despite his attorney’s denial, she claimed he had engaged in a “decade-long campaign of psychological abuse.” Holmes will be sentenced in 2022 after being found guilty on four counts of defrauding investors.
Why Did Sunny Balwani And Elizabeth Holmes Split?
As Theranos began to crumble in 2016, Holmes and Balwani’s relationship ended. Balwani decided to leave the company after serving as COO for seven years.
His resignation coincided with FBI, FDA, and CMS investigations into Theranos’ testing facilities and Holmes herself.
Holmes and Balwani were barred from owning or managing a blood testing laboratory as a result of these investigations.
In March 2018, the SEC charged Holmes and Balwani with securities fraud for “raising more than $700 million from investors through an elaborate, years-long fraud in which exaggerated or false statements about the Company’s technology, business, and financial performance.”
Although Holmes privately resolved this matter, Balwani was still defending himself as of 2019.
Balwani is currently charged with both fraud and criminal offenses. In 2018, a federal grand jury indicted President Balwani and Holmes on two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and nine counts of wire fraud.
In January 2022, Holmes was found guilty of several counts of fraud.
When did Sunny Balwani start working at Theranos?
Balwani was initially hired as Theranos’ president and chief operating officer in 2009 despite lacking any prior medical background.
But the fact that Balwani’s position at the corporation was truly one of an enforcer soon became apparent to the staff.
Nick Bilton, a Journalist who covered Theranos for Vanity Fair and wrote several investigative pieces about the Company, claimed that Balwani served as a sort of watchdog for the enterprise.
Balwani, according to Bilton, “ensured that scientists and engineers at Theranos did not talk to one another about their work,” and “He would scold them in emails when staff questioned the accuracy of the Company’s blood-testing equipment.”Home
