Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes was called to the stand in her criminal trial on Friday<\/b>
\nSAN JOSE, CALIF \u2014 A smiling Elizabeth Holmes took the stand on Friday to testify in her criminal trial, a sudden and surprising move by the defense team, which began its case earlier in the day. Holmes,37, faces 11 counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud for her actions as founder and CEO of Theranos, which she led from 2003 until the company shut down in 2018. She pleaded not guilty. In the first 11 weeks of the trial, the prosecution called 29 witnesses, including former lab directors, patients, doctors, business partners and investors. The government rested its case on Friday morning, following the testimony on Thursday of journalist Roger Parloff, who wrote the 2014 Fortune magazine cover story, \u00ab\u00a0This CEO Is Out For Blood.\u00a0\u00bb Holmes could spend up to two decades in prison if she’s convicted. She’s denied any wrongdoing. Defense lawyers hadn’t indicated whether Holmes would take the stand. But she was called and confidently walked up shortly after 3 p.m. California time. Kevin Downey, one of Holmes’ defense attorneys, began the questioning. In one of her first statements, Holmes said that between 2009 and 2010, her team made a technological breakthrough. \u00ab\u00a0We worked for years with teams of scientists and engineers to miniaturize all of the technologies in the laboratory,\u00a0\u00bb Holmes said. Downey asked Holmes about her public pronouncements regarding how many tests Theranos could run and whether she was limiting her comments to certain types of tests. Holmes said, \u00ab\u00a0No.\u00a0\u00bb Multiple company insiders, including whistleblower and former lab assistant Erika Cheung, testified that Theranos’ devices couldn’t run more than 12 different tests, which contradicted the company’s statements. Holmes had told prospective investors and others that Theranos’ proprietary technology could run 1,000 blood tests. Holmes, keeping her eyes mostly focused on her lawyer and not looking at the roughly 50 other people in the room, walked through her background at Stanford and her decision to drop out and pursue her start-up idea. She said she initially called the company Real-Time Cures and changed the name to Theranos in 2005. She told jurors that she tried to raise some money, get a lab and hire scientists. \u00ab\u00a0We were prototyping,\u00a0\u00bb Holmes said, adding that the early team was trying to build components of the technology. \u00ab\u00a0I had the opportunity to hire some of the people I was working for and with at Stanford.\u00a0\u00bb Downey asked Holmes how she paid for it. \u00ab\u00a0I started with talking to my parents and they let me take the money they saved for me to go to college,\u00a0\u00bb Holmes said. \u00ab\u00a0Then I went to go borrow money.\u00a0\u00bb Over the years, Holmes went on to raise more than $940 million from institutions and wealthy individuals, eventually reaching a valuation for the company of $9 billion. Numerous investors took the stand on behalf of the prosecution, telling the jury they were duped by Holmes, who allegedly misled them on the capabilities of the technology and its traction in the market. Holmes on Friday was asked about Don Lucas, one of the company’s earliest backers and the founder of Lucas Venture Group. Holmes said she met Lucas when the company was raising its Series B financing round. \u00ab\u00a0Don Lucas was one of the early VCs in Silicon Valley,\u00a0\u00bb Holmes said. \u00ab\u00a0I knew him as someone who focused on building great companies in the long term,\u00a0\u00bb she said, naming Oracle, National Semiconductor and Adobe as some of his investments. \u00ab\u00a0I was introduced to him by someone who had gone to college with my dad,\u00a0\u00bb she said. \u00ab\u00a0He had a lot of questions. He began a very comprehensive diligence process.\u00a0\u00bb Downey asked what that included. \u00ab\u00a0He hired a law firm to review our patents,\u00a0\u00bb Holmes said. \u00ab\u00a0He asked us to get an audit of our financials. He wanted copies of our contracts.\u00a0\u00bb Holmes said she later met Oracle founder Larry Ellison through Lucas. Ellison ended up joining the Series C investment round, along with Lucas and his nephew, Chris Lucas, who was one of the investors called by the prosecution. WATCH: Prosecutors expected to wrap up case against Theranos’ Elizabeth Holmes<\/p>\n