 | Theranos is an American privately held health technology company based in Palo Alto, California. The company is known for its unsuccessful attempt to create blood tests using small amounts of blood. It was founded in 2003 by Elizabeth Holmes. Theranos raised more than $700 million in funding with a $9 billion valuation. In 2015, concerns about the validity of its technology were exposed by The Wall Street Journal. The SEC charged Theranos and Holmes with fraud. |  |
 | Holmes reached a settlement, and paid $500,000 in fines and "was stripped of control of the company and barred from being an officer or director of any public company for 10 years." She will also return approximately 18.9 million shares of stock and relinquish her super-voting equity rights. It was estimated that Holmes' personal net worth had dropped from $4.5 billion to $0. By all accounts the entire operation was a complete sham and fraud. |  |
