Let’s play a game. Don’t worry, I think it will be a fun challenge for you; it’s like Where’s Waldo, only with scamming. I’m going to show you a picture, then you will guess which person in the photo (allegedly) architected a sweeping medical racket using little drips of people’s blood. Keep in mind, only one of them is the real deal, but maybe all of them are fakes. Ready? Great. Have a look and tell me: Which of these people is actually Elizabeth Holmes?
Harder than you thought? Maybe you didn’t expect three talented cosplayers to show up dressed as the disgraced Theranos founder whose fraud trial kicked off today in San Jose? And yet here we are: Four blonde women in blazers, hair in varying states of characteristic messiness, where only one was summoned. According to Law360 reporter Dorothy Atkins, all of them made it into the courtroom, but who among them faces up to 20 years in prison? I cannot help you; you must simply choose your fighter.
Fine, a little hint: The real Holmes faces 12 counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Prosecutors believe she swindled investors, doctors, and patients with a useless device she said could conduct a suite of lab tests with a single finger prick. Many people believe she lied about a bunch of other things, too, like being a natural baritone and having a wolf as a pet. In 2019, her Steve Jobs–inspired entrepreneur’s uniform caused a black-turtleneck shortage, which prosecutors are not treating as a crime. Still don’t know?? Ugh, okay, I’m bored: It’s the woman visible just over the bald man’s right shoulder. That’s Elizabeth Holmes. Pretty good costumes, no?