With the help of some high-profile investors, including Rupert Murdoch and Betsy DeVos, Holmes' company Theranos quickly took off. She was hailed as a visionary and a role model for young women everywhere, and her company was valued at a whopping $9 billion. But, as it often does, pride came before a fall, and it wasn't long before the house of cards began to crumble.
It turned out that Theranos' game-changing technology was actually just a bunch of hooey. The company's blood-testing machines didn't work as promised, and the results were often inaccurate or even dangerous. But, instead of fessing up to the problem, Holmes and her team tried to cover it up, using intimidation and silence to keep the truth from getting out.
As the scandal unfolded, Holmes' empire began to crumble. The company was shut down, and Holmes was banned from the medical industry for two years. But, in a bizarre twist, she's still worth millions, and is even engaged to a heir to a hot dog fortune (yes, you read that right).
The rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced CEO of Theranos
