How Elizabeth Holmes Lured Rich Families to Back Theranos
- DeVos family adviser testifies about $100 million investment
- ‘She was hand-picking five or six private families to invest’
Elizabeth Holmes arrives at federal court in San Jose, on Oct. 12.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Elizabeth Holmes targeted ultra-wealthy families as early backers of Theranos Inc. to avoid the potential pressure from larger investment firms to go public, according to an investor at the DeVos family office who kicked in $100 million for the blood-testing startup.
Lisa Peterson, who helped manage the DeVos family fortune at RDV Corp., testified at Holmes’s criminal fraud trial Tuesday that the smooth-talking entrepreneur courted the family with voluminous investment binders, private conversations, a lengthy tour of the company in Palo Alto, California, and a personalized on-site blood test.