How Elizabeth Holmes exploited the fetishisation of entrepreneurs | Arwa Mahdawi

How did the ex-CEO, now facing criminal charges, find fame and fortune? By aping the persona of a ‘tech genius’Elizabeth Holmes did not change the world,as she once promised, but she certainly captured its attention.Thestory of the founder of the now defunct blood-testing company Theranos is everywhere. There is abestselling book,a popular podcast and a new documentary,The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley, directed by the Oscar winner Alex Gibney, which premiered in the US on Monday.Why are we so obsessed with Holmes? Elementary, my dear reader: she is a mesmerisingly modern morality tale. A photogenic 19-year-old Stanford dropout starts a revolutionary blood-testing company, which police are now investigating asa possible multibillion-dollar scam. Powerful men such as Henry Kissinger give her their backing. Holmes is named the US ’s youngest self-made female billionaire before the authorities come knocking and a criminal case is mounted. If you had pitched the story to Hollywood, they would have said it was far-fetched.Continue reading...

Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - March 20, 2019 Category: Science Authors: Arwa Mahdawi Tags: Technology Science Silicon Valley Source Type: news