A Veritable Who’s-Who Of High-Profile Investors Lost Big In Theranos Debacle
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, whose family invested $100 million in the blood-testing start-up, is just one of the well-known investors that took a chance on what was touted as a Silicon Valley fairy tale.
The Wall Street Journal:
Theranos Cost Business And Government Leaders More Than $600 Million
A who’s who of government, business and international finance lost a total of more than $600 million they had invested in scandal-plagued Theranos Inc., according to previously sealed documents made public in a lawsuit. High on the list is Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, whose family invested $100 million in the Silicon Valley blood-testing company, the documents show. Mrs. DeVos had previously disclosed that her family was a Theranos investor in a government filing, but the size of the investment wasn’t known. (Carreyrou, 5/3)
The New York Times:
Caught In The Theranos Wreckage: Betsy DeVos, Rupert Murdoch And Walmart’s Waltons
The company became a Silicon Valley fairy tale, with investors awarding the privately held company a valuation of around $9 billion. But the story began to unravel in October 2015 after The Wall Street Journal, owned by Mr. Murdoch’s News Corp., began questioning whether the tests worked. Theranos became the subject of federal investigations into its testing and claims of proprietary technology, which were called “nanotainers.” Much of the time the company had to resort to using conventional blood testing methods, unable to get federal approval for any test but one for Herpes. Theranos and its founder also became embroiled in a series of lawsuits, involving investors as well as one of its key partners, Walgreens, a large drugstore chain, where it offered its tests. The company reached a settlement with Walgreens last August. (Abelson and Thomas, 5/4)