There’s a saying, actually I think it was a quote from The St. Lunatics’ Murphy Lee which goes “what goes up, must come down (shiiett) But we ain’t coming down” and in the case of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, what came down is her billions in net worth. Today Forbes magazine released their second annual list of America’s richest self-made women and last year’s top ranked Elizabeth Holmes, who has been lauded by countless publications for her disruptive blood-testing startup founded in 2003, TED Talks and #girlboss inspirations, at a net worth of $0 NOTHING; daaaaaaamn Gina!
Holmes, who took top ranking last year beating out Oprah, Tory Burch, Spanx founder Sarah Blakely and even the founder of Forever21, was riding on a wave of stellar publicity where her company, which she owns 50% was valued at $9 billion and was the darling of the startup world and announcing potentially big time partnerships. She’s also been listed on Forbes’ list of America’s Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40, at No. 6; #121 on “Forbes 400” billionaire’s list No. 121; its list of “Power Women” (No. 72). Fast forward a few months and Holmes has not only had to face the piper in the form of several investigations to Theranos’ claims, firing of a top executive and perhaps more crushing is they are on the brink of losing their biggest national partnership in Deerfield based Walgreens.
“Our estimate of Holmes’ wealth is based entirely on her 50% stake in Theranos,” Forbes wrote. “FORBES spoke to a dozen venture capitalists, analysts and industry experts and concluded that a more realistic value for Theranos is $800 million, rather than $9 billion. At such a low valuation, Holmes’ stake is essentially worth nothing.”
So they were merely calculating her worth on paper and not what she actually had in the bank? Do you think this was fair on Forbes’ part?
Time now reports that Theranos has issued their own statement against Forbes’ claim saying “As a privately held company, we declined to share confidential information with Forbes. As a result, the article was based exclusively on speculation and press reports.”
Image credit: Forbes
