About this episode

The episode explores Elizabeth Holmes's rise and fall as the founder of Theranos, highlighting the corporate scandal surrounding her failed healthcare technology.

Once hailed as the next Steve Jobs, Elizabeth Holmes became the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire after founding Theranos, a startup that promised to revolutionise healthcare with hundreds of blood tests from a single drop. BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng trace Elizabeth Holmes’s journey from precocious Stanford student to biotech entrepreneur, before unpacking how secrecy and hype masked a technology that couldn’t deliver. When Theranos collapsed spectacularly, a Silicon Valley dream became one of the biggest corporate scandals of the century. Good Bad Billionaire is the podcast that explores the lives of the super-rich and famous, tracking their wealth, philanthropy, business ethics, and success. There are leaders who made their money in Silicon Valley, on Wall Street and in high street fashion. From iconic celebrities and CEOs to titans of technology, the podcast unravels tales of fortune, power, economics, ambition and moral responsibility. Simon and Zing put their subjects to the test with a playful, totally unscientific scorecard — then hand the verdict over to you: are they good, bad, or simply billionaires? Here's how to contact the…

People in this episode

Hosts: Simon Jack, Zing Tsjeng

Topics covered

• biotech
• corporate scandal
• entrepreneurship
• healthcare
• wealth
• business ethics

Keywords

• Elizabeth Holmes
• Theranos
• biotech entrepreneur
• corporate scandal
• Silicon Valley
• healthcare innovation
• Steve Jobs

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Theranos, BBC World Service

Places: Silicon Valley, Stanford

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