What I’m Reading: Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup: The Theranos & Elizabeth Holmes Story

Bad Blood




by Fred Fuld III

Actually, I’m not currently reading, I just finished reading Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou, and my first comment is “Wow”.  This is the story of the rise and fall of the notorious blood-testing company, Theranos, founded by Elizabeth Holmes when she was 19 years old. The company, which claimed it could do numerous tests from one drop of blood, was valued at $9 billion at one time, and now is out of business.

This is one of the most extensive and thoroughly researched books on a corporate collapse that I have ever read. Carreyrou conducted numerous interviews  and writes the book in such a way that it comes across as a real life mystery and thriller.

If you don’t know the Theranos story, that’s probably a good thing and I won’t ruin it for you by giving away a lot of the details. But those of who were duped by Holmes, according to Carreyrou, include the following:

  • Steve Burd, Safeway CEO
  • Wade Miquelon, CFO Walgreens
  • James Mattis, current United States Secretary of Defense and a former United States Marine Corps general
  • George Shultz, former Secretary of State
  • Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of State
  • Larry Ellison, co-founder, executive chairman and chief technology officer of Oracle Corporation
  • Rupert Murdock, Executive Chairman of News Corp and Executive Co-Chairman of 21st Century Fox (who invested over $100 million in the company)
  • And many, many other wealthy and high level individuals

If you are looking for some “can’t put it down” reading for the fall season, I highly recommend  Bad Blood. It is the twelfth most read book according to Amazon Charts and 90% of the ratings are five stars.

12 thoughts on “What I’m Reading: Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup: The Theranos & Elizabeth Holmes Story”

  4. Have you ever considered about including a little bit
    more than just your articles? I mean, what you say is
    fundamental and all. However just imagine if you added some great photos
    or videos to give your posts more, “pop”! Your content is
    excellent but with pics and video clips, this blog could undeniably be one of the best
    in its niche. Superb blog!

  6. Hmm is anyone else encountering problems with the pictures on this blog
    loading? I’m trying to figure out if its a problem on my end or if it’s the
    blog. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

  7. Greetings from Colorado! I’m bored to tears at work so I decided to browse your website on my iphone during lunch break.
    I love the information you provide here and can’t wait to take a look when I get
    home. I’m shocked at how fast your blog loaded on my cell phone ..
    I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyhow, amazing blog!

  8. The posts are too brief for novices. Could you please lengthen them a little in the future?
    Thank you for the post.

    1. Sometimes with book reviews, we don’t want to give too much of the book away, which is why they tend to be shorter.

  9. Hi I am so thrilled I found your site, I really found you by accident, while I was researching on Ask for something else. Regardless I am here now and would just like to say kudos for a fantastic post and a all around interesting blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to read through it all at the moment but I have saved it and also included your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read a great deal more. Please do keep up the fantastic work.

Comments are closed.