Theranos Inc. founder Elizabeth Holmes was criminally charged in June 2018 with defrauding investors following the collapse of her blood-testing startup. The revolutionary technology she pitched proved irresistible: a machine that could run an array of tests run on a tiny amount of blood, doing away with frightening, inefficient and costly intravenous draws and vials. Investments from Silicon Valley’s most prominent funds poured in, making Holmes the world’s youngest female self-made billionaire.
But it proved too good to be true. A 2015 Wall Street Journal expose revealed uncertainties about the accuracy and viability of Theranos’ blood tests. By 2016, the ...