Bad Blood - by John Carreyrou (Paperback)

About the Book

"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 tests significantly faster and easier ... There was just one problem: The technology didn't work. For years, Holmes had been misleading investors, FDA officials, and her own employees. When [the author], working at The Wall Street Journal, got a tip from a former Theranos employee and started asking questions, both [he] and the Journal were threatened with lawsuits. Undaunted, the newspaper ran the first of dozens of Theranos articles in late 2015. By early 2017, the company's value was zero and Holmes faced potential legal action from the government and her investors. Here is the riveting story of the biggest corporate fraud since Enron, a disturbing cautionary tale set amid the bold promises and gold-rush frenzy of Silicon Valley"--

Book Synopsis

The Financial Times & McKinsey Business Book of the Year

A New York Times Notable Book
A Washington Post Notable Book

One of the Best Books of the Year: NPR, San Francisco Chronicle, Time, Esquire, Fortune, Marie Claire, GQ, Mental Floss, Science Friday, Bloomberg, Popular Mechanics, BookRiot, The Seattle Times, The Oregonian, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal

In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the next Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup "unicorn" promised to revolutionize the medical industry with its breakthrough device, which performed the whole range of laboratory tests from a single drop of blood. 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 $4.5 billion. There was just one problem: The technology didn't work. Erroneous results put patients in danger, leading to misdiagnoses and unnecessary treatments. All the while, Holmes and her partner, Sunny Balwani, worked to silence anyone who voiced misgivings--from journalists to their own employees.

Rigorously reported and fearlessly written, Bad Blood is a gripping story of the biggest corporate fraud since Enron--a tale of ambition and hubris set amid the bold promises of Silicon Valley.

Review Quotes

"A great and at times almost unbelievable story. . . . Theranos may be the biggest case of corporate fraud since Enron." --New York

"Chilling. . . . Reads like a thriller. . . . Carreyrou tells [the Theranos story] virtually to perfection." --The New York Times Book Review

"Gripping. . . . Riveting. . . . [Told] with a momentum worthy of a crime novel." --Los Angeles Review of Books

"Riveting. . . . For all its boomtime feel, there are timeless aspects to Theranos' story. Venality is age-old, but so is courage, and that of the ex-employees who blew the whistle on its deceptions is restorative. . . . And more than an honorable mention should go to Carreyrou, a dogged old-school reporter uncowed by Theranos' legal hardball." --San Francisco Chronicle

"Engrossing. . . . Hard to put down. . . . Boasts movie-scene detail. . . . Theranos employees are the story's heroes, with the force of journalism not far behind." --Science

"A veritable page-turning. . . . Gripping. . . . Presents comprehensive evidence of the fraud perpetrated by Theranos chief executive Elizabeth Holmes... Unveils many dark secrets of Theranos that have not previously been laid bare." --Nature

"This is a 'stay up all night to read' book that is just as propulsive, shocking, and riveting as the best thriller novels." --Bustle

"I found myself unable to put it down once I started. 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, "Five Books I Loved in 2018"

"Riveting. . . . Compelling. . . . [Carreyrou's] unmasking of Theranos is a tale of David and Goliath." --Financial Times

"A fascinating true story that reads like a suspense novel. . . . A telling parable of Silicon Valley magical thinking." --Selby Drummond, Vogue

"In Bad Blood, 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." --Marie Claire

"A parable about Silicon Valley delusion. . . . Gossipy fun comes from seeing which high-profile man (James Mattis, Joe Biden) gets drawn into Holmes' scammy web next." --Elle

"A thorough and devastating piece of reporting that deserves a place alongside the masterworks of the inside-the-boardroom business genre. . . . He quietly compiles detail after damning detail into a fascinating narrative." --The Weekly Standard

"Masterfully reported." --Bethany McLean, bestselling coauthor of All the Devils Are Here

About The Author

John Carreyrou, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, was a reporter at The Wall Street Journal for twenty years. For his extensive coverage of Theranos, Carreyrou was awarded the George Polk Award for Financial Reporting, the Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism in the category of beat reporting, and the Barlett & Steele Silver Award for Investigative Business Journalism. Bad Blood was named the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year. Carreyrou lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and three children.