Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is facing up to 20 years in prison after being charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Photo / Getty
Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is facing up to 20 years in prison after being charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Photo / Getty
She was America's youngest female billionaire — until her massive scam was finally exposed.
Today, Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is facing up to 20 years in prison after being charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
But while the legal battle of her life looms, the disgraced CEO has still reportedly found time to secretly marry her hotel heir beau Billy Evans.
However, as soon as news of the alleged secret marriage broke, rumours began to fly the 35-year-old's intentions were not purely romantic.
The couple reportedly share a luxury apartment in San Francisco. Photo / Twitter
Holmes' covert wedding was first revealed by the B*tch Sesh podcast.
For everyone asking about Holmes's social media. It's private. But here are a few screenshots of her and her fiancé we found online. (I personally find it crazy that she's being charged with 11 felony counts, thousands of people's lives were harmed, and she's as happy as can be.) pic.twitter.com/6nYfjltLt4
The story was then picked up by Vanity Fair reporter Nick Bilton, who has extensively researched Holmes' downfall over the years.
Bilton's own sources confirmed she had married Evans, and last week Bilton revealed more details on his own podcast, Inside the Hive with Nick Bilton.
"I heard that no Theranos people were invited, which is interesting because she's still friendly with some of her Theranos folks," he said during the episode.
In 2015, Holmes was named as the youngest and wealthiest self-made female billionaire in America.
Her revolutionary blood testing technology company, Theranos, had been valued at nearly $US10 billion ($15b), and the young entrepreneur had a personal net worth of $US4.5b ($6.9b).
But just a year later, everything started to fall apart.
That multibillion-dollar estimated fortune was slashed to $0 by Forbes, as Holmes was faced with mounting allegations of potential fraud.
By September 2018, Theranos was shut down for good, and Holmes was also slapped with 11 criminal charges, including wire fraud and conspiracy, although she has pleaded not guilty.
Her ex-partner, Theranos chief operating officer Sunny Balwani, was also charged with similar offences.
THE HAPPY COUPLE
Despite the massive scandal engulfing her, Holmes started dating hotel heir Billy Evans, 27, after the couple met at a party in 2017.
Earlier this year, it was revealed the pair were engaged. They share an apartment in San Francisco, and while their accounts are private, they reportedly share happy snaps of their relationship on social media regularly.
According to the Daily Mail, Evans is the heir to his family business, Evans Hotel Group.
He previously worked for professional networking platform LinkedIn, and until January, he worked at driverless-car start-up Luminar Technologies.
Billy Evans and Elizabeth Holmes met in 2017. Photo / Twitter
In April, a former colleague of Evans told the New York Post those close to the new groom were concerned about the relationship.
"His family is like, 'What the f**k are you doing?' It's like he's been brainwashed," the unnamed co-worker said.
"He's had a lot people very close to him sit him down and have a talk … It's kind of like Billy is her shiny new toy.
"The relationship is opportunistic for the both of them. Elizabeth needs a lot of support in her life right now, and Billy is looking for whatever way he can raise his profile."
THE RUMOURS
After speaking with sources, including former Theranos staffers, Bilton said two main rumours regarding the surprise wedding had emerged.
The first was Evans' fortune would help cover his new bride's expensive legal fees — and the second surrounds a potential future pregnancy.
"She doesn't have any money … he (Billy Evans) is a trust fund baby and has a lot of money, and he is probably helping out with the legal bills because Elizabeth's family doesn't have money either," Bilton said on the program.
He also touched on the second theory: "Holmes is going to get pregnant before she gets on the stand because she will look very sympathetic as a pregnant woman on the stand." Bilton also claimed Evans' parents, William and Susan, were not fans of their daughter-in-law, who they consider to be a "scam artist".
Holmes appeared in court in April following the release of HBO's Theranos documentary The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley, which was inspired by John Carreyrou's book Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup.
Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence will also play Holmes in the upcoming Bad Blood movie adaptation.
