> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.
# Theranos
- URL: https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/theranos/
- Published: 1999-01-03T01:04:00.000Z
- Updated: 2025-01-04T02:09:35.000Z
- Author: Liam Sturgess
- Tags: Profiles, #docs, #organization
**Theranos** was an American biotechnology company based in Palo Alto, California.
## History
Theranos was founded in 2003 by Elizabeth Holmes. The company raised its first round of seed funding in June 2004 led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson (since renamed to Threshold).[\[1\]](#fn1)
### Development
In July 2015, the [Food and Drug Administration](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/Food-and-Drug-Administration) (FDA) approved one of the company's blood tests.[\[2\]](#fn2) Then-Vice President [Joe Biden](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/Joe-Biden) visited the company's lab, which had been staged for a photo op.[\[3\]](#fn3)[\[4\]](#fn4)
### Controversy
On October 16, 2015, *Wall Street Journal* writer John Carreyrou published an exposé titled “Hot Startup Theranos Has Struggled With Its Blood-Test Technology”, raising questions about the effectiveness of Theranos' products.[\[5\]](#fn5)
According to company whistleblower Erika Cheung, the machines were unable to provide accurate and consistent results, therefore data was often manipulated.[\[6\]](#fn6)
## Organization
The company's board of directors included some very high profile names.[\[2:1\]](#fn2)
| Name | Position | Notes |
| ------------------ | -------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Elizabeth Holmes | Founder | \- |
| Sunny Balwani | President and COO[\[1:1\]](#fn1) | \- |
| Riley Bechtel | Board member | \- |
| William Foerge | Board member | [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/Centers-for-Disease-Control-and-Prevention) (CDC) |
| William Frist | Board member | United States Senate |
| Henry Kissinger | Board member | [United States Department of State](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/United-States-Department-of-State) |
| Richard Kovacevich | Board member | Wells Fargo |
| James Mattis | Board member | [United States Department of Defense](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/United-States-Department-of-Defense) |
| Sam Nunn | Board member | [Nuclear Threat Initiative](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/Nuclear-Threat-Initiative) (NTI) |
| William Perry | Board member | [United States Department of State](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/United-States-Department-of-State) |
| Gary Roughead | Board member | [United States Navy](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/United-States-Navy) |
| George Shultz | Board member | [United States Department of State](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/United-States-Department-of-State) |
### Investors
Funding for Theranos came from investments from the following people and organizations:[\[1:2\]](#fn1)
- Draper Fisher Jurvetson (now called Threshold)
- Larry Ellison
- Rupert Murdoch
- Tim Draper
- Walgreens
## Products
Theranos promised the ability for people to receive blood tests quickly from a small finger-prick worth of blood. The blood would enter a cartridge, those cartridges would be put in a machine that would send data over the internet to perform on-the-spot testing.
## External links
- [Campfire Wiki](https://www.campfire.wiki/doku.php?id=medical%5Ftechnology%5Fcompanies:theranos)
- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theranos)
- [Wikispooks](https://wikispooks.com/wiki/Theranos)
### Further reading
- May 21, 2018: *[Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup](https://openlibrary.org/books/OL26961485M/Bad%5Fblood)* by John Carreyrou
---
1. Kunthara, S. (2021, September 14). *A Closer Look At Theranos’ Big-Name Investors, Partners And Board As Elizabeth Holmes’ Criminal Trial Begins.* Crunchbase News. [↩︎](#fnref1) [↩︎](#fnref1:1) [↩︎](#fnref1:2)
2. Pflanzer, L. R. (2019, March 19). *Controversial health startup Theranos has barely any medical experts on its board of directors.* Business Insider. [↩︎](#fnref2) [↩︎](#fnref2:1)
3. Theranos \[@Theranos\]. (2015, July 23). *“The @VP’s visit highlights our commitment to manufacturing in the U.S. and pioneering a new era of preventive health.”* \[Tweet\]. Twitter. [↩︎](#fnref3)
4. Harnes, A. (2022, July 30). *The Wild Way Elizabeth Holmes And Theranos Tricked Joe Biden.* MSN. [↩︎](#fnref4)
5. Carreyrou, J. (2015, October 15). *Hot Startup Theranos Has Struggled With Its Blood-Test Technology.* Wall Street Journal. [↩︎](#fnref5)
6. Khorram, Y. (2021, September 15). *Theranos whistleblower testifies blood-test machines were about as accurate as a coin toss.* CNBC. [↩︎](#fnref6)