In 2015, the Wall Street Journal's John Carreyrou revealed that the
blood tests developed by Theranos — the $9 billion company led by
Elizabeth Holmes — didn't work. Now John's out with "Bad Blood: Secrets
and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup," a book that offers new details
about Holmes, her fraud and her efforts to kill his investigation.
John joined POLITICO's Dan Diamond to discuss how he got the story and
walk through the Theranos timeline (starts at the 1:35 mark), how Holmes
was able to attract staff, investors and media attention (12:00), why
government regulators didn't spot the fraud (21:30), why staff were
scared to blow the whistle (28:15), what Carreyrou thinks of reporters
who missed the story and more on his journalistic process (33:30).
At the end, there's a lighting round of listener-submitted questions at
43:30.
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Have questions, suggestions or feedback? Email ddiamond@politico.com.
MENTIONED ON THE SHOW
John's initial story on Theranos in 2015:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/theranos-has-struggled-with-blood-tests-1444881901
Fortune Magazine's 2014 cover story on Holmes, one of many laudatory
articles: http://fortune.com/2014/06/12/theranos-blood-holmes/
John's new book, "Bad Blood."
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078VW3VM7/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
Federal prosecutors filed criminal charges against Holmes and her
lieutenant Sunny Balwani this month:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-files-criminal-charges-against-theranoss-elizabeth-holmes-ramesh-balwani-1529096005