Elizabeth Holmes (39) at a business forum in San Francisco almost eight years ago.

Dlnews crime:

A blood test bluff made her rich and her children incredibly poor.

Bryan (USA) – At 30, she was considered the youngest self-made billionaire in the world. She beamed from the front pages of the business papers. Nine years later, Elizabeth Holmes (39) begins her most challenging time today.

- Elizabeth Holmes on a walk in San Diego (California) last Wednesday, carrying her newborn daughter in her arms. The youngest self-made billionaire has to start her eleven-year prison sentence on Tuesday.

The former US child prodigy has to go to the women's prison, the federal prison in Bryan (Texas). Wake up at 6 a.m., uniform prison uniform (khaki pants and blouse). Challenging for the young mother: she can no longer hug her sweet children. She tried twice to delay her imprisonment. Now it is time. This Tuesday at 2 p.m. she has to leave her little ones. For eleven long years!

Together with her partner William Evans and their two children, Holmes enjoys her last days of freedom.

Before she got pregnant, she knew what was in store for her. First, curly blonde hair (now almost two years old) was born just before her cheating trial in July 2021. Then, after her conviction in November 2022, she gave birth to her daughter Invicta (three months).

Visit only on weekends.

Her husband William Evans (31), California hotel heir (Bahia Resort Hotel, The Lodge at Torrey Pines), stands by Holmes. He lovingly takes care of the two children and the Siberian husky Balto. In current photos, you can see the couple walking through San Diego with their two children – the last days together in freedom. Unfortunately, Invicta and William can only see their mother during weekend visiting hours (8 am to 5 pm). With 570 people in an impersonal room, without any physical contact, toys are strictly forbidden.

If the little ones with a fever call for "Mami" in bed, she can conveniently console them via video (costs 6 dollars). Elizabeth Holmes has to use every minute so that her children are not traumatized. Should she serve her entire sentence, William and Invicta will be 13 and 11, respectively, when "Mommy" is released.

The prison in Texas

Holmes is still lucky. The federal penitentiary in Bryan (Texas) is considered a soft prison for tax evaders and fraudsters like actress Jen Shah (The Real Housewives). Violent women are not incarcerated there. The security level is correspondingly low. There are fewer security guards and more personal freedom.

Four to eight inmates sleep in a spacious cell. Most 800 women work in factories, carpentry shops, or kitchens for less than one euro an hour. Even jobs in the call center are brokered. On the side, they can continue their education, learn accounting, programming, and languages (Holmes speaks Mandarin)

A bluff makes Holmes a billionaire.

Elizabeth Holmes, the child prodigy. At 19, she gave up her studies and founded Theranos. The start-up fools its sponsors into believing that a single drop of blood can detect 70 blood values – from cancer markers to cholesterol. As a result, investors are pumping 650 million Dollars into the small company.

In 2014, FORBES magazine featured the entrepreneur on the front page.

Even Oracle founder Larry Ellison believes in Holmes and their $9 billion idea (the company's total valuation). But then patients show up whom Holmes’ apparatus has diagnosed as having cancer – but who don’t.

The Wall Street Journal revealed in 2015: The technology doesn't work. The Theranos device "Edison" did not provide her with the results during presentations, but conventional laboratory Determine devices from Siemens & Co. US authorities. Forbes put Holmes' net worth at zero from $4.5 billion. From Hero to Zero.

Ex-CEO Elizabeth Holmes on her way to court in 2022. Her father, Christian Holmes IV (left), and husband,Billy Evans (right), hold hands.

The judiciary is investigating. Holmes blames everything on her ex-boyfriend and business partner "Sunny" Balwani (58). But the judges also see her as guilty. In January 2022, a California court convicted Elizabeth Holmes of defrauding her investors (including media maker Rupert Murdoch and ex-US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger). The public prosecutor's office also asks for $800 million in compensation.

Holmes tries to escape and buys a one-way ticket to Mexico. Detectives catch them. Now she must finally go to prison, although she has appealed against the eleven years.

She only finally admits her blood test bluff in tears. "I'm devastated by my offenses. It hurts me a lot what people have had to go through because I let them down.” At the time, her family hugged her for comfort. Now no one will hug her for a long time. Instead, she will weep bitter tears: alone at night into the pillow of her prison bunk.