Elizabeth 'Shylock' Holmes, Corporate Governance & The Blockchain Industry
Once hailed as a 'visionary tech entrepreneur' and 'self-made, blood-testing billionaire' Elizabeth Holmes has now been charged for massive fraud!
Elizabeth Holmes is the CEO of Theranos - a popular blood-testing company which was once a Silicon Valley darling.
The trouble is, Elizabeth Holmes have been a fraudster all along and have just been exposed by the SEC over $700million raised through an elaborate, years-long fraud!
Is this a case of 'vision without values'?¹
Emerging reports also showed that Elizabeth was able to pull off this massive fraud with the help of a major DoD insider believed to be Mattis who is now a member of the Theranos board. A key part of the fraud, according to SEC, is that they falsely claimed to investors that their product had been used by DoD on the battlefield! Not true.
This is clearly a corporate governance issue.
“The Theranos story is an important lesson for Silicon Valley,” Jina Choi, director of the SEC's San Francisco regional office, said in a statement:
“Innovators who seek to revolutionize and disrupt an industry must tell investors the truth about what their technology can do today, not just what they hope it might do someday.”
I couldn't agree more. I actually think the Blockchain global community, especially those unrepentant ICO enthusiasts, have a lot to learn from the sophisticated scam called Theranos.
Do your Due Diligence!
Undoubtedly, there had been several cases of ICO scams and 'founder's fraud' in this our burgeoning market. The latest was Giza and the $2million belonging to investors now in the wind?
In announcing the charges against Theranos and its CEO, Elizabeth Holmes, the S.E.C. said that Theranos and Ms. Holmes had agreed to settle them, with Ms. Holmes agreeing to pay a $500,000 penalty. As part of the settlement, she was stripped of control of the company and barred from being an officer or director of any public company for 10 years. Ironically, she continues to be the CEO of Theranos!
Interestingly, Elizabeth's fraud has crashed the stock of a company formerly valued at about $8 billion!
Isn't that an awful lot for false claims and promises?
The real question is: how can Blockchain believers guard against the 'Theranos' in the cryptocurrency world?
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The truth is, guess what...there are no simple answers!
What do you think Bravehearts?
I've never heard of her before though, but her story teaches a lot of lesson, ICO owners are coming next.
@botefarm it's a big world out there. And you're right, ICO owners should be in the spotlight!
So i guess i have a load of reading up to do, the whole information is hitting me afresh
Really havent read much about her but the truth is fraud cannot be overemphasized.
These are crimes that are well organized! It looks like a new story to an average person who is not into voracious reading. The masses are not affected directly. I call this "scientific and matured fraud" compared to direct stealing in africa where an educated leader would wholly carry public fund to his personal account!
If you understand what i mean, even in crime, we are still so crude! We need to grow.
I have never heard of her but it sure was a well organised fraud
Really??