The federal fraud trial of former Theranos CEO and founder Elizabeth Holmes rages on in San Jose, California.
While Holmes’ future freedom is on the line in the trial, as she faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison if convicted, she is receiving huge support from fans who idolize her and support her on social media.
The hashtag #ElizabethHolmes on TikTok has received over 13 million views, with many of the videos imitating Holmes and her penchant to speak in a deep voice and wear black turtlenecks in an homage to Steve Jobs.
Earlier in the trial, three blonde women who were dressed like Homes got inside the courtroom to watch the proceedings according to a Business Insider report.
The focus of the trial this week was on the testimony of former US Secretary of Defense James Mattis, who at one point was on the board of Theranos. He admitted to investing $85,000 in the company.
A slew of text messages between Holmes and her former business partner and love interest Sunny Balwani were released. In one, Holmes referred to herself as “the best businessperson of the year.”
In other texts, Holmes boasted about landing multi million dollar investments from Wal Mart heir Alice Holmes and Rupert Murdoch.
“Just finished calls. Alice Walton in for 50. Confirmed 100 Greg,” one text message to Balwani said.
The Walton family invested $150 million into Theranos.
Another text said “Rupert over 100.”
The media tycoon Murdoch eventually invested $125 million into Theranos.
In an ultimate irony, the Wall Street Journal, which is owned by Murdoch, uncovered the true details about Theranos, and the fact the blood testing machine they were touting was not capable of doing what Holmes said it could.
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