Bad Blood

It is really hard to find the words to describe the events of this book. In Bill Gates' review of the book, he called the events "insane." Review here.  It is hard not to compare Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of the now defunct Theranos, to Donald Trump. They are both narcissists or they are both evil but I sincerely hope it's the former. Narcissists have no empathy for others. They lie constantly to support their own grandiose self-image.

The most phenomenal and unbelievable part of this book is not that this woman is a vicious liar but the people that she fooled -- Henry Kissinger, Larry Ellison, Rupert Murdoch, David Boies, Jim Mattis (among others). Now, I care very little that these men either lost a great deal of money or sustained damage to their reputations or both. Given their positions in the world, I wonder how they were so thoroughly fooled. The fact that they were fooled gave Holmes the foundation to fool the rest of Silicon Valley. It wouldn't matter at all if Theranos had been a software company but they produced a health care product that caused many, many people to suffer.

The only silver lining of this horrible story is that it would not have been exposed if it weren't for many brave people who put the interests of public safety ahead of their own. The journalist, John Carreyou, and the management of the Wall Street Journal also deserve credit for their integrity and unwillingness to be intimidated by very powerful people. Lastly, Rupert Murdoch could have killed this story but didn't. And while he has mostly created evil in the world, I admired that decision.

Incredible read. I am not at all surprised it will be a movie soon. It's a very classic tale of good vs evil. It is probably the story of our current era.