James Howells

Professor Sloan

CW R4A Fall 2021 // Beautiful Liars

4 November 2021

III.6 - Rough Middle

What motivated Holmes to lie?

How did she deceive so many people?

● Holmes carried herself as a confident strong woman

- Mimicked Apple founder Steve Jobs
- Innovative
- She wore a black turtlenecks like Steve Jobs wore in public engagements.
- “She wanted to be like Apple and Steve Jobs, in the sense that Apple
devices are ubiquitous.” (Gibney 01:25:53)

- Young women
- Role model for other women to become innovators and CEO’s.
- Her being a female innovator in a male dominated industry possibly
contributed to her motivations to lie and deceive investors and the public
alike.
- She felt the pressure that she needed to succeed because she was the
model/example that women could succeed in complicated biological and
technological fields dominated by men.
- “Holmes was held up as a model for what happens when ambitious
business women gain an unprecedented level of investment and trust. To
our great detriment, because of the charges against her, the world may
have an answer: They fake it. And now it’ll be that much harder for the
rest of us to make it.” https://www.elle.com/culture/tech/a20954081/how-
will-the-fall-of-theranoss-elizabeth-holmes-affect-women-leaders/

● Holmes had the support of many famous and powerful people

- She attended many high profile functions
- She was protected and backed by powerful people on her board such as Henry
Kissinger the former United States Secretary of State.
- “ I wanted to find the people who were just strategically brilliant. General Mattis,
who was a former CENTCOM Commander, is one of our board members. Dick
Kovacevich, who is the former CEO of Wells Fargo is another. Sam Nunn has
done some incredible work on nuclear threats as well as biothreats. Bill Perry,
former secretary of defense. Henry Kissinger, former secretary of state. And
George Shultz, who was secretary of state and labor and secretary of treasury.“
(Gibney 00:34:52)
- She gained and manipulated the trust of these powerful people such as George
Shultz
- Tyler Shultz, the grandson of George Shutlz, described her relationship with his
Grandfather “I mean, he had a really close relationship with Elizabeth. She was
almost like... becoming part of the family. She was coming to our birthday parties
and Christmases.” (Gibney 00:36:31)
- Magazines person of the year
- “We were the first to put on the cover and write a major story about this
amazing woman next to me” (Gibney 00:13:19)
- “Parloff: Fortune invited her to the Most Powerful Women's conference,
even though she wasn't the head of a Fortune 500 company” (Gibney
00:13:33)
- Presidents
- Had the best lawyers
- “ We honor innovators, praise and envy those who have original minds,
and shake our heads when others aren’t able to think outside the
box”(Ariely 187)
- “Just as creativity enables us to envision novel solutions to tough
problems, it can also enable us to develop original paths around rules, all
the while allowing us to reinterpret information in a self-serving way”
(Ariely 187)
- “With all her political connections, She was chummy with the Obama
administration. The bet that she made was that if she surrounded herself
with powerful people, the regulators wouldn't get confrontational with
her” (Gibney 01:25:45)
- “The bet that she made was that if she surrounded herself with powerful
people, the regulators wouldn't get confrontational with her. The end
game, I think, comes back to "fake it until you make it." Elizabeth never
gave up on her ultimate vision to get the device not only in stores, but
ultimately, in the homes of patients. She wanted to be like Apple and
Steve Jobs, in the sense that Apple devices are ubiquitous.” (Gibney
01:25:53)
- She felt untouchable since she had all of these powerful people behind her.
● Holmes may have realized her manipulation and deception were succeeding and
continued with the facade without a moral conscience.
- With strong support from powerful people she was able to manipulate her staff
and investors
- She used fear tactics with lawsuits
- Hired and fired employees
- At this point no moral compass
- May have felt untouchable

- May have started out with good intentions

- Snowballed
- “Elizabeth Holmes used endorsements from pharmaceutical companies to
convince investors that machines made by Theranos, her blood testing
start-up, could conduct hundreds of tests using a finger stick of blood.
They gave her nearly $1 billion. Those endorsements, among many of Ms.
Holmes’ claims, were fabricated, according to arguments made by federal
prosecutors in court last month.”
- “Once one wealthy person buys in, the founder can use that benefactor’s
credibility to collect a stable of ever-powerful supporters.”
- https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/09/business/ozy-theranos-startup-
lawsuits.html?searchResultPosition=3
- Erin Griffith

- “I don't feel like it's sort of a cold-blooded scam, right? It just

seems it started off as something small, like one lie, and snowballed into
this really crazy situation.” (Gibney 01:38:32)

- Began to lie to herself

- The lies and deceit that Holmes was telling herself suggest that it did not
affect her and appear to continue with her perpetuating lies and deception
of the Theranos blood test.
- Holmes may have thought that convincing society, investors and the
public that her company was making positive contributions when in fact it
was a baseless assertion.
- Ariely states that “When our ability to rationalize our selfish desires
increases, so does our fudge factor, making us more comfortable with our
own misbehavior and cheating.” (Ariely, 53)