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How Elizabeth Holmes Tricked WIRED-and Everyone Else
WIRED • • business
Key Points:
- Elizabeth Holmes gained early media acclaim, including a 2013 Wall Street Journal opinion piece and a 2014 WIRED Q&A, portraying her as a visionary disrupting healthcare with Theranos' blood-testing technology.
- Despite initial hype and prominent endorsements, Theranos' technology was later exposed as fraudulent, leading to the collapse of partnerships and Holmes’ incarceration, as revealed by investigative reporting and documentaries.
- WIRED editors reflect on their role in amplifying Holmes’ story, acknowledging red flags they missed and the challenges of balancing skepticism with storytelling in tech journalism.
- The Theranos case highlights broader issues in venture capital and tech media, including gender biases in funding and the culture of "fake it till you make it" that can enable deceptive founders.
- The article underscores the need for more rigorous science and tech journalism to critically evaluate innovations, given the high stakes for public trust and health outcomes.
