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Nearly two years after Elizabeth Holmes began her 11-year prison sentence for fraud following the disbandment of her company Theranos, she has shared insight into life behind bars.
The Dropout's Amanda Seyfried Reacts to Elizabeth Holmes Entering Prison
Elizabeth Holmes is going through changes.
Amid the Theranos CEO’s 11.25-year prison sentence—since reduced to nine years for good behavior—for defrauding shareholders and customers through her medically-impossible blood company mission, she has spoken out for the first time.
“I’m not the same person I was back then,” Holmes, who was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud in January 2022, told People in an interview published Feb. 12. “It’s surreal. People who have never met me believe so strongly about me. They don’t understand who I am.”
Indeed, since Theranos ceased operations in 2018, Bad Blood, in-depth investigation into the company by John Carreyrou—who first was published an exposé on Theranos in 2015 for The Wall Street Journal—was published that year, followed by a hit Netflix documentary film in 2019, and Hulu biopic series, The Dropout, starring Amanda Seyfried, in 2022.
“It forces you to spend a lot of time questioning belief and hoping the truth will prevail,” Holmes said of the noise surrounding her. “I am walking by faith and, ultimately, the truth.”
The 41-year-old—who shares son William, 3, and Invicta, 22 months, with husband Billy Evans—pleaded not guilty during her trial and maintains her innocence, though she admits that she would have handled things “differently” looking back.
Of her stay at Federal Prison Camp Bryan in Texas, where Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah is also serving time for wire fraud and money laundering, Holmes added, “It’s been hell and torture to be here.”
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
In addition to believing her conviction is unjust, Holmes explained it has been a struggle to experience motherhood separated from her children, saying that watching her toddlers leave after their biweekly visits “shatters” her every time.
“The people I love the most have to walk away as I stand here, a prisoner, and my reality sinks in,” the Theranos founder explained. “I always wanted to be a mother. I truly did not think I would ever be convicted or found guilty.”
With her release scheduled for April 2032, Holmes already sees a plan for her future—which will include prison reform and advocacy, as well as, she says, a return to the medical research field.
“There is not a day I have not continued to work on my research and inventions,” she added. “I remain completely committed to my dream of making affordable healthcare solutions available to everyone.”
And while she “hates” to put her loved ones in pain through her prison sentence, Holmes knows she can get through the remainder of her sentence with their support, saying, “It makes me want to fight for all of it.”
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