Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup

Written by John Carreyrou

Narrated by Will Damron

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The gripping story of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos—one of the biggest corporate frauds in history—a tale of ambition and hubris set amid the bold promises of Silicon Valley, rigorously reported by the prize-winning journalist. With a new Afterword.

“Chilling ... Reads like a thriller ... Carreyrou tells [the Theranos story] virtually to perfection.” —The New York Times Book Review

In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the next Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup “unicorn” promised to revolutionize the medical industry with its breakthrough device, which performed the whole range of laboratory tests from a single drop of blood. Backed by investors such as Larry Ellison and Tim Draper, Theranos sold shares in a fundraising round that valued the company at more than $9 billion, putting Holmes’s worth at an estimated $4.5 billion. There was just one problem: The technology didn’t work. Erroneous results put patients in danger, leading to misdiagnoses and unnecessary treatments. All the while, Holmes and her partner, Sunny Balwani, worked to silence anyone who voiced misgivings—from journalists to their own employees.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: May 21, 2018
• ISBN: 9780525642848

John Carreyrou

John Carreyrou is a member of the Wall Street Journal’s investigative reporting team. He joined the Journal in 1999 and has been based in Brussels, Paris, and New York for the paper, winning two Pulitzer prizes. John has covered a number of topics during his career, ranging from Islamist terrorism when he was on assignment in Europe to the pharmaceutical industry and the U.S. healthcare system. His reporting on corruption in the field of spine surgery led to long prison terms for a California hospital owner and a Michigan neurosurgeon. His reporting on Theranos, a blood-testing startup founded by Elizabeth Holmes, was recognized with a George Polk award, and is chronicled in his book Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup. Born in New York and raised in Paris, he currently resides in Brooklyn with his wife and three children.

Reviews for Bad Blood

[philippe1965-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is one of the (very) few non-fiction books I read. I did like that it felt like reading a fiction book. The writing was less sophisticated than what you'd expect in a fiction book, but that's normal. I was particularly attracted by the story because I am familiar with he market space Theranos was trying to change. I agree with the author that the main character certainly had good intentions when creating Theranos, but she derailed at some point in time, pushed by the Silicon Valley mentality that I know quite well. I have worked as investor for many years, and there were many red flags to this story early on: secrecy, lack of data and peer review, non-knowledgeable board. I'm actually proud to see that no reputable life science venture capitalist firm fell for the story.
I recommend the book to any entrepreneur in the medical device and instrumentation market, for most of you it will make you feel good that you didn't make all mistakes Theranos made.

[73pctgeek-23012 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes as told by the journalist who first broke the story about Theranos back in 2015.

After listening to the “The Dropout” podcast, and then watching the TV series of the same name, both of which were based on “Bad Blood”, I thought it was time to read the source material. It's well-written and ultimately led to Holmes being stopped. Though I found myself enjoying the material more as a TV series, this is still a fascinating read.

[jill.mackin · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Elizabeth Holmes -- What a fraud. This is investigative journalism at its best. Very well-written, a clear, and concise explanation of the Theranos scandal.

What blew me away was the strong support of Elizabeth Holmes, by some of the biggest names in the US -- former Sec of State George Schultz, Gen. James Matthis, and Henry Kissinger to name a few, who bought into a web of lies, deceit, and some very illegal business practices.

[castlelass · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wall Street journalist John Carreyrou documents the rise and fall of Silicon Valley “unicorn” Theranos, and its founder, Elizabeth Holmes. Theranos was established to revolutionize the blood-testing industry by using a proprietary device to analyze a few drops of blood from a finger-stick to obtain multiple simultaneous test results. This book showcases all the worst elements of the business world – hubris, greed, deceit. It takes spin-doctoring and vaporware to a new level. It tells of the company’s intimidation tactics, massive turnover, deceptions, lawsuits, and the list goes on and on.

Though it is sometimes hard to keep all the names straight, the author does an excellent job in portraying this train wreck in a logical, straight-forward manner. Based on Carreyrou’s articles and evidence from further investigations, fraud indictments have been filed and the company, valued in the billions a few years ago, is now defunct. I found it both disturbing and fascinating.

[guildlingsfan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Highly informative and interesting. Could barely put it down. Simply fantastic.

[carmenere_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is an incredible expose about Elizabeth Holmes, 20 years old, college drop out before sophomore year, charismatic and with a desire for "a purposeful life". She patented her idea to develop an in-home mini lab where individuals can administer their own blood test with a single drop of blood and transfer the info to their doctor for treatment recommendations, if necessary.
In the span of 10 years Theranos, the start-up which Holmes created, went from a little blood testing machine to, well, a little non-functioning blood testing machine. Through quick thinking, being evasive and using outside testing facilities for accurate results was she was able to receive the backing of the US Army and former Secretaries of State, George Schultz and Henry Kissinger.
How does this flimsy start-up come to an end? A phone call to a Wall Street Journal journalist named John Carryrou from a suspicious employee.

[addunn3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I always wondered why is was so difficult to expose illegal business activity. Now I understand why. The pressure on the truth teller is intense.

[fromthecomfychair · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The nerve of some people!

[hhornblower_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Coming to this book a bit after-the-fact (the two main protagonists were prosecuted a year ago), I was already biased against Elizabeth Holmes. I had really only been paying passing attention to the situation, thinking it just another 'tech" talking a good game, getting a lot of press and walking away with tons of money, enough to hire lawyers to sort out the mess.
Well, I got to page 25 and absolutely hated her and it became clearer and clearer as the book went on that this was a situation that went well beyond the typical Silicon Valley flash in the pan that came crashing down, this whole situation was outright fraud. Whether or not she is a diagnosed Sociopath, Ms Holmes managed to convince a number of very intelligent people that she was going to change the world for the better, all while having absolutely no concept on how to get her idea to work.
As an aside, the shear amount of employee turnover would give any business person and investor pause (it is comforting to see the number of people who left the company on moral grounds).
Towards the end of this horror show, I just couldn't help picturing in my mind Elizabeth Holmes jumping up and down in her cell complaining to all who would listen about how unfair this whole situation is. That the medical establishment and a muckraking journalist were just out to get her. It really is unfortunate that she'll be out of prison in a couple of years, I am convinced that she will not, ever, learn a lesson from this.

[kavinay-677830 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Henry Kissinger writes a birthday limerick, a megalomaniac plays at 4-dimensional patent application, and they're not even the principal criminals detailed in Carreyrou's investigation into Theranos' amazing scam.

Obviously the major takeaway from this book is the vaporware applied to medicine is a chilling novelty of Silicon Valley's questionable moral culture, but I wonder if the most stunning revelation of Carreyrou's research is how Palo Alto seems to nurture world-class psychopathy as a business virtue. Nearly every major player selected in this story is an elite, privileged douchebag. No doubt Elizabeth Holmes is a marquee villain, but so much of this story is about the rank and file weakness of character in pursuit of glory that animates Silicon Valley.

[jaleesa_rbtbc · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

All I can say is: Thank you to everyone involved in exposing Theranos.

This book was a wild ride (in the best way). Elizabeth and her shenanigans put me through it.

[thekellyfamily · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was so good -- investigative journalism at its finest. I highly recommend!

[bibliophageoncoffee · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fascinating. I can't believe I never knew about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos before reading this book.

[nmele_4 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What with a front page trial and a Hulu drama series, which i have not watched, the subject of this book, Elizabeth Holmes and her company, have gotten a lot of attention. Carreyrou lays out the story in chronological detail, including the efforts by Theranos to stop the Wall Street Journal coverage and exposure of the inadequacies of Theranos' product and the cover-up amounting to fraud which Holmes and others perpetrated. The book left me pondering whether Holmes was so focussed on her vision that she deluded herself, whether she wandered into criminal territory accidentally, or whether she always considered herself above the law or beyond its reach. Was she sincerely trying to make healthcare better, or was she out to make a name and a lot of money? I still wonder.

[willszal-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is as much about the process (and stakes) of investigative journalism, as it is about Silicon Valley delusion. This makes it a better book.

I've been hearing about Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes for many years now, but for some reason, have avoided reading this book. I was ready for something related to startups that would be entertaining, so decided to pick it up.

If the author wanted the book to be not just good, but excellent, he would have crafted the first half of the narrative to be swept up in Holmes "reality distortion field," and the second half letting it all fall apart. Instead, Carreyrou came in guns blazing, with Holmes as a deranged psychopath from page one. This certainly works, and is more compatible with objective journalism, but means the storytelling is a little flatter and less engaging than it could have been.

The narrative's inertia relies on a perverse curiosity with the question: just how repugnant to truth can Holmes and her cadre be? We all know how this story end: eventually, the music stops. But it takes maybe a decade longer than it should have!

I will note: the misogyny of America does shine through in this book, simply because Elizabeth Holmes' life has fallen apart, and Donald Trump is still going strong. Is Trump a good ethical bar? By no means—but that is the point. The only reason Trump is still going and Holmes' has had to call it quits is because Holmes' is a woman and Trump is a man.

One takeaway: countless powerful and influential people can be deceived if you paint them a pretty picture with the right flourishes. Another takeaway: regulators are outgunned by Silicon Valley; one of the reasons Theranos got too far is because regulators are underfunded and understaffed.

[wunder-62679 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If this was a novel, people would call it unbelievable. But it happened. As a tech employee, this is all the nightmares in one company.

[allthingsgo-433125 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I particularly liked chapter about Ian Gibbons & Richard Fuisz ... also that Army doctor...what was his name? did NOT know about him before reading Carreyrou's book. A bit disappointed about none coverage on Stanford Univ.'s influence, if any, about her 'downfall', i.e. Manning R. Robinston & MIT's role in IT as well, via this other dude...what was his name?

[hskey-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the best non-fiction books I've ever read. Even though I'd already watched a few Youtube videos about Theranos and watched the documentary, I was glued to the pages and finished in it just a few sittings.

Totally mesmerizing. I'm a massive sucker for stories about fraud and disasters and this is one of the best. Carreyrou did an amazing job, I felt like I was right next to all the employees for over a decade while Holmes and Balwani exhibited frequent instances of ludicrous behavior. I'm moderately cynical when it comes to big tech companies being overvalued/overpowered and it's nice to see them get their comeuppance, but I feel badly for all the patients and doctors they hurt.

I could not put this one down. Fantastic.

[pattylee-621744 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An absolute blockbuster of a book that reads like a thriller. In some ways it reminded me of A Civil Action. It is a scathing look at Silicon Valley, the power of charisma over facts and the well being of humans, and the blind faith that asks no questions nor requires any answers. A must-read!

[pferdina · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The story of Elizabeth Holmes and how she built Theranos and lost it. Theranos was a company that she said would revolutionize lab testing by doing hundreds of routine tests using just a drop of blood. It didn't work, though. How she managed to perpetuate this fraud, and get hundreds of millions of dollars from old rich men who should have known better, I don't understand.

[booklove54 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book should go in the true-crime category, since that is what it is. Truly, it's a shocker. You'll never look at the healthcare industry the same way again. Or at lawyers, for that matter. But then, you never really liked lawyers much, did you?

[socprof9740 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This tale of colossal Silicon Valley failure reads like a thriller. The most amazing part is not the failure per se. Businesses fail all the time. It is the fact that Theranos and its charismatic CEO, Elizabeth Holmes, were able to fool elder statemen, venture capitalists and investors, and the public, for about 15 years before the whole house of cards collapsed. All the signs were there all along, as reported by WSJ reporter John Carreyrou, but they were ignored or dismissed. Instead, Holmes's image and charisma, combined with a hefty dose of paranoia, imposition of fear, and Scientology-level retaliation tactics, loom large. But in the end, there is also no question that Holmes came from privilege and was able to marshal that resource any time she needed. This book also goes deep into the actual management of Theranos, the reign of terror of Holmes's right-hand man, which led to internal dysfunctions, high turnover, and low employee morale. Those are of interest to anyone working on group behavior, management of large organizations, and leadership.
All in all, it makes for a very creepy tale.

[arosoff-513117 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is an incredible story and a gripping book--most legal thriller writers would reject it as unbelievable.

If you had an idea for what you thought medicine would do, how would you go about it? For Elizabeth Holmes, the answer was surprising: drop out of college and found a company for a product that she didn't know how to make, didn't understand the underlying science for, or even know if it could be done. And rather than spend time researching and developing the product, you'd sell it anyway.

The scale of her fraud is breathtaking. She brazenly lied to investors, to scientists, to the government, to the media, and to all of Silicon Valley for over a decade. To protect her secret, she ran Theranos as a tyranny. The human cost of her actions to her employees alone is horrific, and we're lucky she harmed fewer patients.

The most intriguing aspect of the book is the way she was able to transform herself into a Silicon Valley myth. She got everyone to believe what they wanted to believe: that she was a visionary, and that they'd be stupid to pass up this amazing technology that she refused to demonstrate for them. Up till the final collapse, some very famous people stuck by her. It's not a pleasant portrait of her investors or the culture.

[mrdickie · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The author is an investigative reporter for the Wall Street Journal.
Account of the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes and her older boyfriend who ran Theranos in Silicon Valley. They claimed to be able to do comprehesive blood analysis on very small amounts of blood. Many well educated and prominent members of society were fooled. Millions of dollars were provided for the start-up. Head of Safeway got involved as did Walgreens. Both thinking they were going to set up mini-clinics at their business. Henry Kissinger and George Schultz were two people who should have known better than to take seats on the Board of Directors. I listened to the book for eleven and half hours after a library check out. Cases are still pending as of May w2021 as well as criminal trials for the two main characters. An outstanding true crime story.

[sarah220-732610 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wow. A fascinating and terrifying tale. The hubris and gall of Holmes is astonishing and nauseating. As a person with a chronic condition who has benefited from medical research and technological innovation, I found it terrifying how willing she was to flat out lie to investors, doctors, the government, her employees, and essentially patients trying to stay healthy. I also just made me sad and wary of "news" of new biotech that is being "developed." Carreyrou's writing is straightforward and simple. The story sucks you in but I would have benefited from a glossary of people, acronyms, and medical terms. He includes an incredible amount of detail but it also becomes easy to lose track of the timeline and context.

[paul_s-289480 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Investigative journalism not dead yet. Great work.

Yet the psychopath is not in jail. If you know powerful people not only can you succeed in scamming billions from investors, you can also kill people and avoid jail.

[idiopathic-374092 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Must read for every health care technology company

The fraud detailed here is breath-taking but also the research of the author is amazing. A third Pulitzer awaits him no doubt. It is wonderful to read about the people whose conscience moved them to blow the whistle, sadly as usual many paid a heavy price but they helped society put an end to this.

[ken5me5old5mate · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I wish this book had not been so good.

I lied to myself about “one more chapter” at 1:30am so many times that I had to take to afternoon naps to get through the day following.

Do I regret it? not a bit!

I had to keep reminding myself that this was non-fiction because it was as exciting as even the best detective stories I’ve read of late. The narrative sets a heady pace that never lets up and just when you think that this must run out of steam soon, it ratchets up even more!

Laying bare the venal greed that underlies so much of American capitalism, not only in the production of wealth but the dream of wealth too. And running along beside it the amoral forces of darkness that have no hesitation in destroying people’s lives in order to make that buck. What always surprises me is how much of that is considered normal.

The story in essence is one of wishful thinking by people, of no doubt decent character (except for Kissinger) who can be classified, by the old words, as blinded in the way that only those who choose not to see can be blind.

We are reminded pretty much daily of the face of evil that Silicon Valley has become, we used to think that Facebook was bad, but it took Donald Trump to show us how Silicon Valley sheds only crocodile tears. Black Lives Matter as long as they do not endanger profits.

This book lives in its entirety in that amoral quagmire.

Reading this book will let you see that justice can prevail, but only by the slimmest of odds and not without great effort by the opposing forces.

Sheer brilliance.

[spinsterrevival · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Really interesting and well-researched story. Listening to the audiobook was good because there were a lot of dry facts and many names that I didn’t have to try to remember like I would reading, so that helped. It would have been cool to try to get into her head to figure out WTF, but I guess that’s difficult for a sociopath/narcissist like Elizabeth Holmes.

[m_mozeleski · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I didn't know what to expect going into this, but I had been informed it was great, so I gave it a stab. I was rewarded with an EXCELLENT timeline, description of people's characters and their actions, and as the story unfolded I just became more and more horrified at how easy it can be to slip through the cracks if you have big names and money.

No time spent in whatever jail is enough for this woman, who dangled far bigger promises than she could keep for far too long, in front of the populace. The groups that sued her should have gotten more.

Criminy. I will give Elizabeth this: she had balls of fucking vibranium. Unfortunately I think she ran into Wolverine at the end.

GREAT read, excellent reporting,and what utter bravery from the author to follow this story to the end.