A beguiling, blonde 31-year-old entrepreneur sat onstage with former US President Bill Clinton and laid out her ambition for a future where diseases could be detected before they took hold. With her long hair, black turtleneck and slim-leg pants, Elizabeth Holmes was a refreshing anomaly on a panel of men in grey suits. Her large blue eyes remained unblinking as she sold a vision that was full of promise.
“To me, nothing matters more than the reality in our healthcare system today, which is, when someone you care about gets really sick, by the time we find out about it, it’s often too late to do anything,” she explained in her deep, sonorous voice.
The audience burst into applause. What Elizabeth was promising at that conference in January 2015 was nothing short of a healthcare revolution: cheaper, faster, less painful blood tests – detailed results with just the prick of a finger – providing more people with better health information earlier. This could save lives.
Bill Clinton beamed with paternalistic pride as he explained that Forbes magazine had crowned Elizabeth the youngest-ever self-made woman billionaire. Her start-up, Theranos, was valued at US$9 billion. Yet she appeared humble, bashful almost, and reiterated that she just wanted to make a difference in the world.
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