Hollywood director Adam McKay has announced that he is working on a drama film starring Jennifer Lawrence that will focus on the life of disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes.
Adam McKay, who most recently directed blockbuster films such as Antman, The Big Short and Anchorman, is attached to an upcoming project which will focus on the life of Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes. Holmes and Theranos revolutionized the blood-testing process by making it possible to use just a finger prick to capture the same medical information which only available previously by drawing an entire tube of blood.
Over the past few years, Theranos has been on the receiving ends of significant criticisms. They have been accused of false advertising, misleading public officials, and providing inaccurate test results. In May, the firm admitted to two years of faulty blood testing and recalled the results of nearly 3 million tests.
Although the company was once valued at $9 billion, and Holmes’ personal net worth at $4.5 billion, both figures have suffered significantly as a result of the company’s tribulations over the past few years. Just last week, Forbes revised their $4.5 billion estimate of Holme’s net worth to zero, citing the company’s recent devaluation as the reason.
“At such a low valuation, Holmes’ stake is essentially worth nothing. Theranos investors own preferred shares, which means they get paid back before Holmes, who owns common stock. According to VC Experts, investors in Theranos own a particular kind of preferred equity, called participating preferred shares, which take precedence to common stock in the event of a liquidation. FORBES is not aware of any plans to liquidate.”
It’s unclear as to how McKay and Lawrence intend to tell the story of Theranos and Holmes, but Deadline Hollywood gave this summary of Holme’s story in an article about the upcoming film.
Founded in 2003 by Holmes, Theranos claimed to have revolutionized blood testing by being able to use only a pinprick of blood, rather than traditional methods of drawing blood by injection. The company however is now under investigation over claims of inaccurate test results and Holmes’ own worth — at one point valued at $4.5 billion by Forbes thanks to her 50% stake in the company — has plummeted to a fraction of that. What’s more, Theranos may even be banned from practicing for two years for failing to resolve significant problems at its main California lab, according to a report from federal health regulator The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Tom Ciccotta writes about Free Speech and Intellectual Diversity for Breitbart. You can follow him on Twitter @tciccotta or on Facebook. You can email him at tciccotta@breitbart.com
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