Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has petitioned Donald Trump to commute her sentence for defrauding investors in her blood-testing startup, according to a notice on the US Department of Justice website. The request, made last year, is listed as pending in the office of the pardon attorney. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Holmes, 37, was convicted of four counts of defrauding investors and sentenced in November 2022 to more than 11 years in prison. Her company, Theranos, was once valued at $9bn before collapsing after investigations revealed its revolutionary blood-testing technology did not work as claimed.
A university dropout with no medical training, Holmes had persuaded prominent figures including Rupert Murdoch, Henry Kissinger and Larry Ellison that her technology could perform a wide range of medical tests using just a pinprick of blood. She filed a patent for the device, but a 2015 Wall Street Journal investigation by John Carreyrou exposed flaws in the technology. Following regulatory scrutiny, Theranos retracted its tests and recalled its machines, with Holmes stepping down as chief executive in June 2018. The company dissolved soon after, and Holmes and co-executive Sunny Balwani were charged with defrauding investors and patients.
Trump has granted clemency to more than 1,600 people since beginning his second term, most for their involvement in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. During his first term, he issued 237 pardons and commutations.
