Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced founder of the now-defunct blood-testing company Theranos, has asked US President Donald Trump to commute her 11-year prison sentence for defrauding investors, according to a notice on the US Department of Justice website. The petition, filed last year, is listed as pending on the Office of the Pardon Attorney’s website.
Holmes, 37, was convicted in 2022 on four counts of fraud after she misled investors about her company's technology, which claimed to perform a range of medical tests using just a few drops of blood. The startup was once valued at $9bn and attracted high-profile backers including Rupert Murdoch, Henry Kissinger, and Larry Ellison.
The downfall began with a 2015 investigative report by the Wall Street Journal that revealed the technology was not functioning as claimed. Subsequent regulatory scrutiny led to the recall of testing devices and the eventual dissolution of the company. Holmes stepped down as chief executive in 2018, and she was charged alongside former business partner Sunny Balwani.
Trump, who began his second term in January, has granted clemency to more than 1,600 people, many of whom were involved in the 2021 attack on the US Capitol. During his first term, he issued just 237 pardons and commutations.
