Elizabeth Holmes had founded Theranos in 2003, at just 19 years old, and promised diagnostic tools that were faster and cheaper than those of traditional laboratories.
With the help of a very elaborate story and appearance, she had managed in a few years to gain the confidence of luminaries and to raise funds from prestigious investors attracted by the profile of this young woman, a rarity in the male world of Californian engineers.
At its peak, the company was valued at nearly 10 billion dollars, and Elizabeth Holmes, majority shareholder, is the head of a fortune of 3.6 billion, according to Forbes magazine.
The story was beautiful. As a child, she hated needle sticks during blood tests. She will therefore invent a simple, fast and efficient machine that will allow everyone to carry out hundreds of blood diagnoses from a single drop of blood taken from the tip of their finger.
But in 2015, the Wall Street Journal raised the huge pot of roses: the fabulous machine promised by Theranos never worked.
