Elizabeth Holmes accuses ex-lover, business partner of abuse

Disgraced entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes described herself as the abused puppet of her former lover and business partner Sunny Balwani in tearful testimony Monday, part of her attempt to refute accusations that she lied about a flawed blood-testing technology she had hailed as a major breakthrough. If she didn’t do what Balwani said, Holmes said, he would yell and tell her he was “so disappointed in my mediocrity.” At other times, Holmes said, Balwani would liken her to a “monkey flying a space ship” and tried to cut her off from her family in an alleged effort to ensure that she devoted herself full time to Theranos. Business Theranos and CEO Elizabeth Holmes committed ‘massive fraud,’ SEC alleges Four years ago, the Silicon Valley firm Theranos Inc. was valued at $9 billion and its founder and Chief Executive Elizabeth Holmes was hailed as a potentially revolutionary force in the blood-testing industry. Federal prosecutors wanted to try Balwani alongside Holmes, but U.S. District Judge Edward Davila separated the proceedings because of the possibility that Holmes would blame some of her behavior on“intimate partner abuse.” Jeffrey Coopersmith, Balwani’s lawyer, has vehemently denied Holmes’ abuse allegations. The company collapsed after a series of explosive articles in the Wall Street Journal and regulatory audits revealed rampant inaccuracies in Theranos’ blood tests., In her testimony, Holmes said most people didn’t realize how much Balwani controlled her because most of his alleged abuse occurred outside the office.