Ex-Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes could seek to defend herself at her upcoming fraud trial by alleging she suffered psychological, sexual and emotional abuse at …
Ex-Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes could seek to defend herself at her upcoming fraud trial by alleging she suffered psychological, sexual and emotional abuse at the hands of former Theranos President and onetime boyfriend Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, and that because of submissiveness to him she believed allegedly fraudulent statements she made were true, according to court filings unsealed Saturday. Holmes “alleges a decade-long campaign of psychological abuse” by Balwani that involved “monitoring her calls, text messages, and emails; physical violence, such as throwing hard, sharp objects at her; restricting her sleep; monitoring her movements; and insisting that any success she achieved was because of him,” reads a filing by attorneys for Balwani, which calls the allegation “outrageous.” Holmes, the filing says, “plans to introduce evidence that Mr. Balwani verbally disparaged her and withdrew ‘affection if she displeased him,’ controlled what she ate, how she dressed, how much money she could spend, who she could interact with — essentially dominating her and erasing her capacity to make decisions.
