Sunny Balwani And Elizabeth Holmes were in a romantic relationship during their tenure at Theranos. Be with us till the end to learn more about why they split.
As Amanda Seyfried and Naveen Andrews’ portrayal of Elizabeth Holmes and Sunny Balwani garners positive reviews, Us Weekly has compiled all the information you need to know about their relationship.
Theranos was a privately held health technology Company established by his then-girlfriend Elizabeth Holmes.
Their previous president and chief operating officer were Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, an American businessman and convicted fraudster.
He was the second-most significant player in the demise of Theranos, which had deceived investors by claiming to have developed a new blood test that only required a tiny bit of blood, like that from a fingerstick.
Were Sunny Balwani And Elizabeth Holmes Married?
When Holmes attended Stanford’s Mandarin program in China in 2002, the same year he filed for divorce from his then-wife Keiko Fujimoto, they became friends. Balwani is 19 years older than the Theranos founder.
Despite developing an odd connection, they didn’t start dating until 2004.
To pursue a product that purportedly could run medical tests using only a tiny amount of blood collected from a finger prick, Holmes dropped out of college that year.
Although Balwani didn’t join the Company formally 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 ventures.
They allegedly kept their romance a secret from investors. Holmes and Balwani were charged with two counts of conspiring to conduct fraud on the wires and nine counts on the wires shortly after the couple split up.
Then, although his attorney rejected it, she said 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 started to fall apart in 2016, Holmes and Balwani’s relationship ended. Balwani decided to leave the Company after seven years as its COO.
His resignation coincided with investigations into Theranos’ testing facilities and Holmes herself by the FBI, FDA, and CMS. Due to these investigations, Holmes and Balwani were prohibited from owning or managing a blood testing laboratory.
For “raising more than $700 million from investors through an elaborate, years-long fraud in which exaggerated or false statements were made about the Company’s technology, business, and financial performance,” the SEC charged Holmes and Balwani with securities fraud in March 2018.
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.”