CEO fraudster Elizabeth Holmes says lockup is ‘hell’ in first prison interview

Notorious Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, once celebrated as the first female self-made billionaire, broke her silence in her first interview from a federal prison in Texas. 

Holmes was sentenced to 11 years in prison in November 2022 for fraud and conspiracy and ordered to pay $452 million in restitution to investors for scamming investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars by lying to raise money for her blood-testing startup Theranos. She began her sentence on May 30, 2023. 

“The people I love the most have to walk away as I stand here, a prisoner, and my reality sinks in,” the 41-year-old mother said in an interview with People, detailing her experience behind bars.

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Holmes is being held at Federal Prison Camp (FPC) Bryan in Bryan, Texas, about 100 miles outside of Houston. 

Twice a week, she is allowed a few hours of visitation at the prison with her partner Billy Evans and their two children, William, 3, and Invicta, 2, Holmes shared in her interview. 

Watching them leave through the secured glass door that separates her from freedom “shatters my world every single time,” she said. 

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The disgraced exec’s company, which was once valued in the billions, falsely claimed that it invented a machine that could run complex tests with just one drop of blood.

“I’m not the same person I was back then,” Holmes, who pleaded not guilty at trial, said.

“There are things I would have done differently,” she added, though maintaining her innocence today. “I refused to plead guilty to crimes I did not commit. Theranos failed. But failure is not fraud.”

Holmes said that she found the Hulu series “The Dropout,” which is based upon the rise and fall of her company, “difficult” to watch.

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“It’s surreal. People who have never met me believe so strongly about me. They don’t understand who I am. It forces you to spend a lot of time questioning belief and hoping the truth will prevail,” Holmes said. “I am walking by faith and, ultimately, the truth. But it’s been hell and torture to be here.”

Holmes gave birth to her first child weeks before her trial began, and she had her second baby just three months before she began her prison sentence.

“I always wanted to be a mother,” she explained to People. “I truly did not think I would ever be convicted or found guilty.”

With her own experience trying to breastfeed her newborn while incarcerated, Holmes spoke with the warden about allowing women to breastfeed privately. Eventually, authorities created lactation rooms in 2023 for mothers at the prison. 

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Holmes said her reason for doing the interview was to advocate on behalf of incarcerated persons and inmates separated from their children. 

Behind bars, she works as a reentry clerk, aiding women set to be released to prepare for their freedom, and she teaches French classes. She also maintains a mostly vegan diet but began eating fish after becoming anemic during her first year in prison, she told People. 

Holmes is scheduled for release on April 3, 2032, and she said she plans to continue her healthcare technology career upon her freedom.

“There is not a day I have not continued to work on my research and inventions,” she said. “I remain completely committed to my dream of making affordable healthcare solutions available to everyone.”