One of the most galling, dramatic and disturbing business stories of recent times is the rise and fall of Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes.

Theranos (their name a combination of therapy and diagnosis) was founded by Holmes to try and provide a rapid diagnostic test that only needed a drop of blood however from its logical beginnings came one of the biggest frauds ever.

Theranos touted they had unique technology that would revolutionise healthcare while in reality they had machines that either didn’t work or were wildly inaccurate (with tragic consequences) and the business fleeced investors out of $804 million.

In their relentless quest to keep up pretences, Theranos threatened those who worked there with a barrage of NDAs and security measures to keep their ‘trade secrets’ in to the tragic point where renowned chemist Ian Gibbons took his own life.

From Stanford University dropout to Theranos’s $9 billion valuation to conviction, the story of Elizabeth Holmes is nothing short of unbelievable (if not evil!) and had the epic highs and lows that perfectly befit a series detailing the story.

In 2022, Hulu released the series ‘The Dropout’ telling the story of Holmes and Theranos with a brilliant cast of Amanda Seyfried, Stephen Fry, Naveen Andrews and many others.

Seyfried’s portrayal of Holmes is incredible, she (in my non-theatrical opinion) absolutely nails the idiosyncrasies of the Theranos founder and her dramatic personality shift from a young woman to the deep-voiced CEO.

The other actors are also well cast and portray the story well airing the concerns about all that went on behind the scenes at Theranos.

The series addresses the meteoric rise and sudden fall of the company after the Wall Street Journal wrote a damning exposé of Theranos with The Dropout telling all sides of the story (the newspaper, Theranos and the sources).

Throughout, the series is engaging, captivating and is the type of show you want to binge (even though it’s about a factual, business story).

I highly recommend The Dropout both as entertainment and to learn about one of the most interesting frauds of our time.

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