Former entrepreneur and Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes has submitted as evidence in court old notes of her schedule and guidelines to herself under the alleged influence of her former business and romantic partner Ramesh ‘Sunny’ Balwani.
On Monday, Ms Holmes,37, alleged in court that she had been physically and psychologically abused by Mr Balwani, 56, who forced her to have sex with him and controlled the way she acted, including how she ate. Mr Balwani’s lawyer, who was present in court, has refuted the allegations of abuse.
Ms Holmes is in court facing fraud charges over a high-profile medical scam, which she is accused of engineering through her defunct blood testing technology that could allegedly run blood tests faster than conventional laboratory tests. She is accused of defrauding doctors, patients and investors while putting patients at risk.
Ms Holmes’ lawyer has submitted notes that include schedules of her day starting at 4am and ending with dinner, reported Business Insider.
The schedule includes handwritten notes on hotel stationery that give hourly instructions on every part of her day, including when she must wake up, work out, pray and eat. It lists details about each meal.
The notes also include directions to herself on how to behave, such as: “I do everything I say, word for word”, “I never show excitement”, “I am never a minute late”, “All about business”, “I am not impulsive”, “I do not react”, “I speak very rarely, when I do crisp and concise”.
Other directions include: “I am always proactive”, “I do not hesitate”, “I know the outcome of every encounter”, “I constantly make decisions and change them as needed”, “I give immediate feedback, non-emotionally“, “My hands are always in my pockets or gesturing”, “I call bullshit immediately”, “I am forever present”.
On Monday, Ms Holmes said in court that Mr Balwani asked her to devote 30 minutes each morning to write down her goals. He would also ask her to put down a written justification if she spent more than five minutes with anyone.
Ms Holmes alleged that the directives were a part of the years of abuse that she faced from Mr Balwani, who she had met while she was in high school.
She dropped out of Stanford University in 2003, where she alleged that she had been raped and she believed that was the reason behind her subservience to Mr Balwani in subsequent years.
The couple got into a romantic relationship in 2005. Mr Balwani served as Theranos’ chief operating officer from 2009 to 2016.
She also alleged that he asked her to “kill” her former self to become a more focused businesswoman.
Ms Holmes’ company Theranos – centered around “revolutionary” finger prick blood-testing technology that turned out not to be entirely sound – was once among Silicon Valley’s brightest prospects, valued at $9bn and attracting investment from some of America’s most influential business figures before its spectacular fall from grace led to its dissolution in September 2018.
Both Ms Holmes and Mr Balwani were indicted in June 2018 on two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and nine counts of wire fraud and, if they are ultimately convicted in San Jose, face a maximum of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 per count.
