Ten dated marks from Theranos’s founding through the 2015 Journal investigation, CMS sanctions, SEC charges, and the Holmes and Balwani sentences.
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The company claimed its devices could run a broad menu of clinical laboratory tests from a finger-stick or other small sample, faster and cheaper than a conventional venous draw sent to a central lab.
The Wall Street Journal published John Carreyrou’s first major investigation on 15 October 2015. CMS sanctions, SEC charges (2018), and criminal trials followed.
On 3 January 2022 a Northern District of California jury convicted her of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud involving investors. She was acquitted on several other counts, including patient-related wire-fraud counts.
Judge Edward J. Davila sentenced Holmes on 18 November 2022 to 135 months (11 years and 3 months) in federal prison, plus supervised release and restitution to be determined in the judgment papers.
Ramesh Balwani was convicted in July 2022 on all twelve counts he faced, including investor and patient-related fraud, and was sentenced in December 2022 to 155 months.
CMS findings and trial evidence included inaccurate or unreliable results from the Newark lab. Holmes was not convicted on the patient-fraud counts; Balwani was. Civil and regulatory files address laboratory quality separately from those verdicts.
The company’s life is 2003–2018. The criminal case occupies 2018–2022.
These ten marks are the ones the trial stipulations and the major press chronologies agree on.
JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember
Elizabeth Holmes founds Theranos in Palo Alto, later claiming a small-sample testing platform that would become the Edison story.
A retail partnership puts Theranos collection sites in stores, turning a private pitch into a consumer laboratory offering.
Press reports place the company near a $9 billion valuation. Holmes appears on magazine covers as a biotechnology founder.
On 15 October the Wall Street Journal publishes Carreyrou’s first major article challenging the device claims and laboratory practice.
Medicare’s survey agency cites the Newark lab and later imposes sanctions, including a ban on Holmes’s running a lab for a period. Many results are voided.
The SEC charges Holmes and Balwani with fraud. Theranos begins dissolution. A criminal indictment follows in the Northern District of California.
Jury selection and evidence in San Jose. The government focuses on investor representations about technology, partners, and the military.
On 3 January the jury convicts on four investor-related counts and acquits or hangs on others. Sentencing is set for later in the year.
In July a separate jury convicts Balwani on all counts, including patient-related fraud.
Davila sentences Holmes to 135 months (18 November) and Balwani to 155 months (7 December). Both later report to custody after appeal-related delays.
Each public-record claim on this dossier sits beside the timeline chapter already on the page.
Public-record encyclopedia. Not legal advice, not a how-to, not a private file.
Claim Holmes was convicted of harming patients.
Timeline beat 2003 — Company founded
The January 2022 verdict convicted her on investor-related counts and acquitted her on patient-related wire-fraud counts. Balwani was convicted on patient-related counts.
Claim The Journal invented the problems.
Timeline beat 2013 — Walgreens rollout
CMS inspections and two juries independently found serious false statements and laboratory failures after the 2015 articles.
Claim No blood tests were ever run.
Timeline beat 2014 — Peak private valuation
Tests were offered and run, including on third-party machines. The fraud theory was about what the company’s own technology and validations could do, not about a total absence of any assay.
Claim A $9 billion public company vanished.
Timeline beat 2015 — Journal investigation
Theranos was private. The $9 billion figure was a 2014 fundraising valuation reported in the press, not an exchange capitalization.
Mark each timeline beat already on this dossier as supported, contested or unknown, using the public-record claims already filed here. Not a verdict.
Editorial marks on this device only. Public-record encyclopedia — not legal advice, not a how-to, not a private file.
| Timeline beat | Supported / Contested / Unknown |
|---|---|
| 2003 — Company founded Claim already on file: Holmes was convicted of harming patients. | |
| 2013 — Walgreens rollout Claim already on file: The Journal invented the problems. | |
| 2014 — Peak private valuation Claim already on file: No blood tests were ever run. | |
| 2015 — Journal investigation Claim already on file: A $9 billion public company vanished. | |
| 2016 — CMS sanctions Claim already on file: A $9 billion public company vanished. | |
| 2018 — SEC charges; company ends Claim already on file: A $9 billion public company vanished. | |
| 2021 — Holmes trial begins Claim already on file: A $9 billion public company vanished. | |
| 2022 — Holmes verdict Claim already on file: A $9 billion public company vanished. | |
| 2022 — Balwani verdict Claim already on file: A $9 billion public company vanished. | |
| 2022 — Sentences Claim already on file: A $9 billion public company vanished. |
After the 2022 sentences the live file is appellate and restitution arithmetic; the trial-court story of investor fraud is complete.
Public-record encyclopedia. Not legal advice. Not a how-to. Graphic detail is withheld. Wars belong in a separate atlas.