John Carreyrou is the reporter for the Wall Street Journal whose investigative reporting brought down Theranos and its wunderkind founder, Elizabeth Holmes. Before its demise in 2018 and subsequent bankruptcy it was valued at $9 billion. Carreyrou does a masterful job of reassembling his notes into a logical chronology beginning with Holmes desire to develop a method of testing blood with just a finger-prick and high-tech, nano-assays. By working her connections and charisma across Silicon Valley -- and the willingness of venture capitalists and a goggle-eyed Board of Directors -- Holmes became a front-page phenom with ample cash flow. Only her technology never worked. Holmes pitched in effect a pyramid scheme by lying, bullying, and obfuscating for years with a product whose misinformation endangered the lives of those who received its unreliable results. This book is a warning about demagogues that believe in their pronouncements more than the truth (I'm thinking of you, Donald Turmp) and at the same time inspires me that journalists who speak truth to power can yet be the saviors of democracy.
Comments
Post a Comment