TRUE CRIMEFormer Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes Reveals Her Time in Prison Has Been 'H--- and Torture' After She Was Convicted of Defrauding Investors: 'I'm Not the Same Person I Was Back Then'
Elizabeth Holmes was convicted of misleading investors and defrauding them in 2022.
Elizabeth Holmes is giving an inside look into her life in prison.
In a new interview published on Wednesday, February 12, the former Theranos CEO — who was convicted of misleading investors and defrauding them, resulting in her being sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2022 — sat down for the first time since entering Federal Prison Camp Bryan in Texas.
'People who have never met me believe so strongly about me,' Elizabeth Holmes said of those who think she is guilty.
“There are things I would have done differently,” Holmes said, though she maintains she’s innocent. “I’m not the same person I was back then.”
“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. I am walking by faith and, ultimately, the truth. But it’s been h--- and torture to be here,” she said of her last almost two years behind bars.
Elizabeth Holmes is currently serving time in Federal Prison Camp Bryan in Texas.
Since entering prison in May 2023, Holmes’ sentence was reduced to nine years.
The tech star — who was known for her black turtlenecks and red lipstick — started her blood testing company in 2003 after dropping out of Stanford University at 20 years old. The business then quickly rose to a whopping $9 billion evaluation.
Holmes spoke about how she believes her conviction was a miscarriage of justice.
“First it was about accepting it happened,” she explained. “Then it was about forgiving myself for my own part. [And] I refused to plead guilty to crimes I did not commit. Theranos failed. But failure is not fraud.”
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'Theranos failed. But failure is not fraud,' Elizabeth Holmes said about her alleged innocence.
Though Holmes faced going to jail, Evans and Holmes still decided to start a family
“I asked him 20 times if he wanted to spend his life with me,” she remembered. “There were a million reasons why not.”
“I always wanted to be a mother,” Holmes continued. “I truly did not think I would ever be convicted or found guilty.”
Holmes revealed she was allowed to pump her b----- milk for baby Invicta while in prison.
“I wanted my daughter to have her mother’s milk," she recalled. "It was important to me because it was a way to love her in here."
Holmes, 41, explained how for a few hours, twice a week, she is able to see her kids, William, 3, and Invicta, 2, whom she shares with Billy Evans, 33.
The ex-businesswoman said it “shatters my world every single time” when her children leave. “The people I love the most have to walk away as I stand here, a prisoner, and my reality sinks in,” she added.
Elizabeth Holmes shares kids William, 3, and Invicta, 2, with partner Billy Evans.
As for what Holmes does day-to-day in the detention center, she wakes up around 5 a.m., eats fruit for breakfast and then does a 40-minute daily workout.
By 8 a.m., she earns 31 cents an hour as a reentry clerk in the education building, where she assists women writing resumes and preparing to apply for tax credits.
“So many of these women don’t have anyone, and once they’re in there, they’re forgotten,” she stated.
People interviewed Holmes.
