An entrepreneur who managed to trick Silicon Valley into believing she had invented a world-changing technology has been convicted of fraud.
Elizabeth Holmes was hailed as the new Steve Jobs when she founded the health company Theranos.
She received backing from some of the biggest billionaire investors in the tech world but her supposed invention turned out to be useless.
Holmes, now 37, claimed to have designed a machine which could monitor and diagnose a range of health conditions at home using a droplet of blood.
She was hailed as a revolutionary thinker and lavished with praise for making a name for herself in the male-dominated tech world as a young woman.
But scientists working for the firm blew the whistle after it became clear the idea was unworkable, leading to a series of bombshell exposes in the Wall Street Journal.
Media baron Rupert Murdoch and former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger were among the high profile figures convinced to lend their backing to the sham firm.
Now Holmes – who is due to be played by Jennifer Lawrence in an upcoming film about the scandal – has been found guilty of two counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit fraud after seven days of deliberation.
The verdict followed a three-month trial featuring dozens of witnesses, including Holmes herself.
She now faces up to 20 years in prison for each count, although legal experts say she is unlikely to receive anything close to the maximum sentence.
The jury deadlocked on three remaining charges and David Ring, a lawyer who has followed the case, described the verdicts as ‘a mixed bag for the prosecution, but it’s a loss for Elizabeth Holmes because she is going away to prison for at least a few years’.
Federal prosecutors presented evidence to depict Holmes as a charlatan obsessed with fame and fortune.
During cross examination, she alleged she was emotionally abused by her former boyfriend and business partner, Sunny Balwani, with whom she secretly lived while the pair worked at the company.
Holmes also continued to insist she believed the faulty technology could be fixed and denied deliberately trying to defraud investors.
She remained seated and expressed no visible emotion as the verdicts were read, bowing her head as the jury relayed their decisions.
Holmes did not respond to questions outside court and will remain remain free on bond while awaiting sentencing.
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