Sunny Balwani

Ramesh Balwani
Born (1965-06-13) June 13, 1965 (age 59)[1]
Sindh, Pakistan[2]
Other namesSunny Balwani
EducationUniversity of Texas, Austin (BS)
University of California, Berkeley (MBA)
Stanford University
Known for
Criminal statusIncarcerated April 20, 2023
Conviction(s)2 counts of conspiring with Holmes, 6 counts of defrauding investors and 4 counts of patient fraud (2022)
Criminal penalty12 years and 11 months
Partner(s)Elizabeth Holmes (2003–2016)
Imprisoned atTerminal Island FCI

Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani (born June 13, 1965)[1] is a businessman, former president and chief operating officer of Theranos, which was a privately held health technology company founded by his then-girlfriend Elizabeth Holmes. He and Holmes fraudulently represented that they had devised a revolutionary blood test that required only small amounts of blood, such as from a fingerstick. Both Balwani and Holmes were convicted of fraud.[3] The consequences of the fraud led to the collapse of Theranos and the loss of billions of dollars to investors.[4]

Starting in 2015, Theranos came under criticism in the media due to its questionable claims and practices. The company was eventually liquidated. Balwani and Holmes were criminally charged by federal authorities for operating the business as a multi-million dollar scheme to defraud investors and patients. Holmes was found guilty and sentenced to 11 years and 3 months in prison.[5] Balwani was found guilty on all counts.[6]

He was sentenced to 12 years and 11 months, plus three years of probation and surrendered on April 20, 2023.[7][8] Holmes and Balwani were further ordered to pay $452 million to the victims of the fraud, with responsibility for the payment shared between them.[9] Balwani was portrayed by Naveen Andrews in the 2022 miniseries The Dropout, which documented his relationship with Holmes and his role within Theranos.[10]

  1. ^ a b Sommerlad, Joe (November 30, 2021). "Ramesh Balwani: Who is Elizabeth Holmes' ex at the heart of the Theranos trial". The Independent.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Raghavan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Wile, Rob (December 7, 2022). "Former Theranos executive Sunny Balwani gets nearly 13 years in prison for his role in company's fraud". NBC News. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  4. ^ Levine, Matt (March 14, 2018). "The Blood Unicorn Theranos Was Just a Fairy Tale". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  5. ^ Primack, Dan (March 25, 2022). "Trial begins for ex-Theranos exec Sunny Balwani". Axios. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  6. ^ Rosenblatt, Joel (July 7, 2022). "Theranos ex-President Sunny Balwani found guilty of fraud". Bloomberg. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  7. ^ Goswami, Rohan (December 7, 2022). "Former Theranos COO Sunny Balwani sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison". CNBC. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  8. ^ "Sunny Balwani: Former Theranos executive gets nearly 13 years in prison". BBC News. December 7, 2022. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  9. ^ Godoy, Jody (May 16, 2023). "Theranos founder Holmes loses bid to stay out of prison, hit with huge restitution bill". Yahoo! News. Reuters.
  10. ^ Aurthur, Kate (March 3, 2022). "'The Dropout' Star Naveen Andrews on Sunny Balwani's Relationship With Elizabeth Holmes: 'Sunny Is Lady Macbeth!'". Variety. Retrieved March 23, 2022.