Yahoo Lifestyle Elizabeth Holmes Makes Strange Revelation Involving Taylor Swift in First Interview From Behind Bars
Elizabeth Holmes spoke out about her life behind bars for the first time in a recent interview—revealing an unexpected connection to Taylor Swift in the process.
In a cover story for People, the former CEO of Theranos opened up about what life has been like since she was sent to prison for fraud and conspiracy over the collapse of her billion-dollar health technology company two years ago.
As Holmes explained, watching her two children—William, 3, and Invicta, 2—leave Federal Prison Camp Bryan in Texas after visiting “shatters [her] world every single time."
"The people I love the most have to walk away as I stand here, a prisoner, and my reality sinks in," she said.
Holmes, who pleaded not guilty at her trial and continues to maintain her innocence, dropped out of Stanford in 2004 to start her company. Theranos claimed its technology could cheaply deliver multiple medical diagnoses using blood drawn from a single finger prick. By 2014, she was the nation's youngest self-made billionaire. But in 2015, an exposé in the Wall Street Journal turned Theranos on its side, revealing the highly sought-after testing technology wasn't exactly what it claimed.
“I’m not the same person I was back then,” Holmes told People.
“It’s surreal. People who have never met me believe so strongly about me. They don’t understand who I am. It forces you to spend a lot of time questioning belief and hoping the truth will prevail. I am walking by faith and, ultimately, the truth. But it’s been hell and torture to be here.”
Holmes also opened up about how she met her partner, Billy Evans, in the midst of the scandal, going on to give birth to their first child, William, just weeks before the start of her fraud trial.
Related: Elizabeth Holmes Attempted to Flee the Country Following Fraud Conviction, Prosecutors Claim
According to Holmes, she met Evans at a rooftop charity event in October 2017; a year later, he proposed to her with a silver snake ring he bought during Swift's Reputation Tour concert.
“I asked him 20 times if he wanted to spend his life with me,” Holmes said. “There were a million reasons why not.”
The couple's daughter, Invicta, was only three months old when Holmes went to prison.
“I always wanted to be a mother,” she said. “I truly did not think I would ever be convicted or found guilty.”
For now, Holmes is forced to settle for twice-weekly visits with Evans and her children. She's scheduled for release on April 3, 2032.
“It kills me to put my family through pain the way I do,” she said. “But when I look back on my life, and these angels that have come into it, I can get through anything. It makes me want to fight for all of it.”
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