Elizabeth Holmes, Egg Prices, and the Unemployment Rate

Once hailed as the youngest self-made female billionaire, Elizabeth Holmes is best known for founding the failed blood-testing startup Theranos in 2003 when she was 19. After Theranos' technology was found to be faulty, Holmes was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison in 2022 for defrauding investors.

> Listen to "The Dropout," the popular podcast that chronicled Holmes' story. (More)
> Holmes has spoken about the "hell and torture" of prison since she began serving time. (More)

During a Mandarin immersion program in China the summer before she started college, Holmes met 37-year-old Sunny Balwani, who would later become not only the COO of Theranos but also her romantic partner. She attended Stanford University from 2002 to 2004, when she dropped out to work on Theranos. The company raised hundreds of millions of dollars, reaching a $9B valuation at its peak. Investors included Rupert Murdoch and Walmart's Walton family, and board members ranged from Henry Kissinger to George Shultz.

> Read the absurd, romantic texts between Balwani and Holmes that have now become a meme. (More)

> Was Theranos a cult? (More)

> Holmes' strange quirks included dressing like Apple founder Steve Jobs. (More)

However, Theranos' core claim—that its blood-testing device could detect many diseases with just a pinprick of blood—was ultimately a lie, despite partnerships with major pharmacies like Walgreens that added to Theranos' credibility. Theranos dissolved in 2018 after a 2015 Wall Street Journal investigation led by reporter John Carreyrou exposed that Theranos' Edison blood-testing machines did not work as the company claimed. The machines gave many people false test results, leading to patient harm.

> Read the WSJ story that first surfaced failures in Theranos' technology. (More)

> Watch an interview with some of the Theranos whistleblowers. (More)

Discover more: 

> Listen to a comparison between Holmes' real voice and her fake, deep one. (More)

> Elizabeth Holmes' partner Billy Evans has raised millions of dollars for a new biotech startup during Holmes' time in prison. (More)

> When female founders fail publicly, some sociologists say they are evaluated more harshly than men. (More)

🫶 Humankind: A 12-year-old girl in Arizona recently organized a donation of about 30,000 diapers to a local food bank.

 News in Context 

1440 brings you the knowledge and context behind the week's stories:

Egg prices have declined by more than half since last year as flocks recover from the avian flu. (More)

> Tips for keeping household grocery costs low.

> How to shop organic while on a budget. 

OpenAI safety specialist David Robinson recently quit his job, saying the company's culture is broken. (More)

> The history of Anthropic began with a break from OpenAI over safety concerns.

> OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has acknowledged widespread fears around AI.

US airfare prices rose 23.4% in August compared with a year before—and some experts say they could continue to rise amid tensions in Iran. (More, free w/email)

> Jet fuel is typically a commercial airline's second-largest expense.

> Inside commercial air travel's golden age, when flights were short, cold, and generally comfortable.

The US unemployment rate is nearing a record level of consecutive months below 5%—which hasn't been seen since the 1960s—despite a weak September jobs report. (More)

> The unemployment rate for college grads vs. other workers.

> What's behind the rise in long-term unemployment?

One Story We're Taking Stock In

As we mentioned above, Elizabeth Holmes is back in the news because a new documentary called "You Can See Everything" from comedian Nathan Fielder and "Primetime" director Lance Oppenheim hits theaters nationwide on Oct. 16. Holmes and her partner Billy Evans allowed Fielder's film crew to spend the days leading up to her reporting to federal prison (where she would serve time for defrauding investors) inside their family home. 

According to one journalist who saw the film ahead of its release, Fielder spends much of the movie questioning Holmes about why she believes she is innocent, structuring the film so that viewers can go on the same discovery journey into Holmes' complex psyche that the filmmakers did. The feature story below (one of our favorite reads of the week) offers readers a first look at the film ahead of its release.

> Manipulator vs. manipulator: Nathan Fielder got an up-close look at Elizabeth Holmes and is still unsure who he really met. (Read)

> The biggest startup failures of all time. (1440 Topics)

 Etcetera 

> Use a "Where should this money live?" calculator to see where to store extra cash.

> The world's top 20 billionaires, visualized.

> Why "buy one, get one free" isn't actually a good deal.

> How raising interest rates can help control inflation.

> See the top soda brands sold in the US by market share.

> How popular is Apple Pay?

> Meet the "SPY kids," the 11 children tied to Wall Street's first ETF.

> The parents spending hundreds of dollars on berries.

> Why Claire's keeps filing for bankruptcy.
 

> How many illiquid millionaire households are there in the US? 

> One digital nomad's favorite remote work locations.

> Why people get payday loans even though they know they're a bad deal.