New York Times essay complains it’s ‘sexist’ for Elizabeth Holmes to be held accountable for Theranos disaster

A New York Times guest essayist complained Wednesday it was “sexist” for Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes to face accountability for her alleged massive fraud while powerful male tech executives frequently escaped punishment.

“Time and again, we see that the boys’ club that is the tech industry supports and protects its own — even when the costs are huge. And when the door cracks open ever so slightly to let a woman in, the same rules don’t apply,” tech investor Ellen Pao wrote.

“As Ms. Holmes’s trial for fraud continues in San Jose, it’s clear that two things can be true. She should be held accountable for her actions as chief executive of Theranos. And it can be sexist to hold her accountable for alleged serious wrongdoing and not hold an array of men accountable for reports of wrongdoing or bad judgment.”

Two things can be true. Elizabeth Holmes should be held accountable for her actions as CEO of Theranos. And it is sexist to hold her accountable for serious wrongdoing and not hold men accountable for similar acts.

I wrote an op-ed for the NYTimes https://t.co/MlJrwag6yg

— Ellen K. Pao (@ekp) September 16, 2021

Holmes took Silicon Valley by storm after dropping out of Stanford at age 19 in 2003 and founding Theranos, which attracted big-name investors and a $9 billion valuation by 2015 over its purported, revolutionary blood-testing machines. However, investigations eventually found Holmes and former boyfriend Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani lied to investors and fooled lab inspectors about their technology, which couldn’t perform the complex tests they claimed it could from one drop of blood.

Holmes and Balwani were charged with raising more than $700 million from investors through the fraudulent scheme, and Theranos, once the darling of the biotech world, is now the defunct poster child for get-rich-quick Silicon Valley malfeasance. Their indictments go on to accuse them of also defrauding doctors and patients by lying about their machines’ efficacy when they knew it couldn’t provide accurate tests. – READ MORE