Elizabeth Holmes founded Theranos in 2003 after dropping out of Stanford University in her sophomore year. Touting a game-changing miniature testing device that could run dozens of medical tests on a single drop of blood, Holmes convinced scientists to work for her and investors to sink millions into her company. Only problem was her technology simply never worked.
By deceiving her investors and keeping her employees quiet about her faulty tech through intimidation and NDAs, Holmes managed to become the youngest self-made billionaire by 2015, with her company valued at $9 billion.
Following a devastating exposé by the Wall Street Journal and an investigation by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Holmes was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and nine counts of wire fraud. She was found guilty on four of those counts. She faces up to 20 years in prison for her crimes.