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FWIW, Carreyrou's unflattering descriptions of Balwani are well-supported by on-the-record interviews of people in the book. It's not clear in the posted excerp

by danso 8y ago

FWIW, Carreyrou's unflattering descriptions of Balwani are well-supported by on-the-record interviews of people in the book. It's not clear in the posted excerpt (I don't think Carreyrou ever stated this in his reports for WSJ), but Balwani was also Holmes's boyfriend, so many people had opinions about him even outside his official role at Theranos.

jacquesm 8y ago
> Balwani was also Holmes's boyfriend How did I miss that so far? That explains a lot, thank you for that factoid.
- danso 8y ago
  Skimming over the excerpt (I haven't gotten that far in the book), it seems to be omitted, which makes sense given that the excerpt focuses on the company's corporate dysfunction. I have to admire Carreyrou's and his WSJ editors' restraint in not reporting such a salacious detail during the course of their Theranos investigation, because a case could be made that Holmes's and Balwani's relationship is germane to how Theranos turned out. > In early August 2007, Ed accompanied Elizabeth to Nashville. Sunny picked them up from the office in his Porsche and drove them to the airport. It was the first time Ed met him in person. The extent of their age gap suddenly became apparent. Sunny looked to be in his early forties, nearly twenty years older than Elizabeth. There was also a cold, businesslike dynamic to their relationship. When they parted at the airport, Sunny didn’t say “Goodbye” or “Have a nice trip.” Instead, he barked, “Now go make some money!” Or maybe, perhaps the damning evidence against Theranos was so voluminous that the Holmes+Balwani relationship was small potatoes in comparison and not worth the newsprint. edit: The WSJ recently published an excerpt of the book's chapter devoted to Balwani. Here's the Twitter link (WSJ paywall seems to let in twitter.com referral domain): https://twitter.com/JohnCarreyrou/status/997522528301174784 https://twitter.com/JohnCarreyrou/status/997522528301174784
  - latte 8y ago
    Wow. The WSJ article puts the history of the company and the motivations of the founder in an entirely new light. I wonder why it wasn't common knowledge before.

by danso 8y ago

jacquesm 8y ago

> Balwani was also Holmes's boyfriend How did I miss that so far? That explains a lot, thank you for that factoid.

danso 8y ago
Skimming over the excerpt (I haven't gotten that far in the book), it seems to be omitted, which makes sense given that the excerpt focuses on the company's corporate dysfunction. I have to admire Carreyrou's and his WSJ editors' restraint in not reporting such a salacious detail during the course of their Theranos investigation, because a case could be made that Holmes's and Balwani's relationship is germane to how Theranos turned out. > In early August 2007, Ed accompanied Elizabeth to Nashville. Sunny picked them up from the office in his Porsche and drove them to the airport. It was the first time Ed met him in person. The extent of their age gap suddenly became apparent. Sunny looked to be in his early forties, nearly twenty years older than Elizabeth. There was also a cold, businesslike dynamic to their relationship. When they parted at the airport, Sunny didn’t say “Goodbye” or “Have a nice trip.” Instead, he barked, “Now go make some money!” Or maybe, perhaps the damning evidence against Theranos was so voluminous that the Holmes+Balwani relationship was small potatoes in comparison and not worth the newsprint. edit: The WSJ recently published an excerpt of the book's chapter devoted to Balwani. Here's the Twitter link (WSJ paywall seems to let in twitter.com referral domain): https://twitter.com/JohnCarreyrou/status/997522528301174784 https://twitter.com/JohnCarreyrou/status/997522528301174784
- latte 8y ago
  Wow. The WSJ article puts the history of the company and the motivations of the founder in an entirely new light. I wonder why it wasn't common knowledge before.