The Rise and Fall of Theranos
Theranos was born in the early 2000s with a promise that sounded like science fiction: hundreds of blood tests from a single finger prick, faster and cheaper than traditional labs. Elizabeth Holmes raised more than $700 million, attracted a board of political heavyweights, and reached a $9 billion valuation — all while the core technology quietly failed to deliver. Behind the scenes, most tests couldn’t be reliably run on Theranos’ own devices. The company secretly relied on conventional machines, hid bad results, ignored regulatory warnings, and silenced employees who raised concerns. When journalist John Carreyrou exposed the inconsistencies, the façade collapsed. By 2018, Theranos, Holmes, and COO Sunny Balwani were charged with massive fraud; both were later convicted, ordered to pay $452 million in restitution, and the company was dissolved. Theranos is more than a story of deception; it’s a case study in failed governance and due diligence. It shows what happens when “fake it till you make it” replaces evidence, transparency, and independent oversight — and why trust, controls, and robust compliance are as essential to innovation as speed.
Beyond the Law: The Corporate Culture That Justified the Great Electrical Cartel
In the late 1950s, one of the largest antitrust scandals in U.S. history revealed not just corporate collusion — but a culture that justified it. The Great Electrical Cartel wasn’t born from greed alone, but from loyalty, conformity, and a society that no longer saw white-collar crime as a crime.