Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup

Description

Now with a new afterword covering the months-long landmark trials of Elizabeth Holmes and Sunny Balwani. 'I couldn't put down this thriller . . . the perfect book to read by the fire this winter.' Bill Gates Winner of the Financial Times/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award 2018 The riveting true story of the breathtaking rise and shocking collapse of Theranos, the multibillion-dollar biotech startup founded by Elizabeth Holmes, by the prize-winning journalist who first broke the story and pursued it to the end, despite pressure from its charismatic CEO and threats by her lawyers. In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the female Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup 'unicorn' promised to revolutionize the medical industry with a machine that would make blood testing significantly faster and easier. 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 $4.7 billion. There was just one problem: the technology didn't work. In Bad Blood, John Carreyrou tells the riveting story of the biggest corporate fraud since Enron, a tale of ambition and hubris set amid the bold promises of Silicon Valley. 'Chilling . . . Reads like a West Coast version of All the President's Men.' New York Times Book Review

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. 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 US 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 was recognized with a George Polk Award. Born in New York and raised in Paris, he currently resides in Brooklyn with his wife and three children.

I couldn't put down this thriller with a tragic ending . . . a book so compelling that I couldn't turn away . . . This book has everything: elaborate scams, corporate intrigue, magazine cover stories, ruined family relationships, and the demise of a company once valued at nearly $10 billion -- Bill Gates, '5 books I loved in 2018' A dazzling story of deception in Silicon Valley . . . You will not be able to put this book down. * Washington Post * Carreyrou tells the story virtually to perfection . . . Bad Blood reads like a West Coast version of All the President's Men. * New York Times Book Review * Riveting . . . a blistering critique of Silicon Valley . . . The real heroes, though, are his sources: the young scientists who worked at the company and risked their reputations and careers by voicing their concerns. Were it not for their courage, Theranos might still be testing blood today -- David Crow * Financial Times * If you're looking for an engaging non-fiction read, look no further than Bad Blood . . . a pacy, compelling narrative about white-collar crime that's as incredible as any work of fiction. * Irish Times * In this Silicon Valley drama, he opens his reporter's notebook to deliver a tale of corporate fraud and legal browbeating that reads like a crime thriller. -- The 10 Best Nonfiction Books of 2018 * TIME * Gripping . . . Carreyrou presents the scientific, human, legal and social sides of the story in full . . . He unveils many dark secrets of Theranos that have not previously been laid bare. * Nature * A parable, with all the usual, delicious ingredients of human folly: greed, pride, vanity, lust, anger. Above all, it is an analysis of the phenomenon of hype. * Daily Telegraph * Simply one of the best books about a startup ever. * Forbes * Bad Blood reveals a crucial truth: outside observers must act as the eyes, the ears and, most importantly, the voice of Silicon Valley's blind spot . . . It gambled not with our smart phones, our attention or our democracy, but with people's lives. * Paste * Engaging * The Economist * A beautifully controlled narrative that challenges the gold-rush mentality of Silicon Valley. -- Lionel Barber, Editor of the FT, 'Books of the Year 2018' * Financial Times * [Holmes') story is a parable about Silicon Valley delusion, but the gossipy fun comes from seeing which high-profile man (James Mattis, Joe Biden) gets drawn into Holmes' scammy web next. -- 'Best Books of 2018' * ELLE * Carreyrou tells the full, gripping tale of how he slayed the "unicorn" in a fascinating look at how buzz and billions can blind people to facts. -- 'Best Books of 2018' * Marie Claire * You will not be able to put this down. -- Top tech book releases in 2018 * Evening Standard *