Ramesh Balwani

Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani (born June 13, 1965) is an American business executive who served as the president and chief operating officer (COO) of Theranos, a now-defunct health technology company. Balwani played a significant role in the company's rise and subsequent downfall due to fraudulent claims about the capabilities of its blood-testing technology. This article discusses Balwani's background, his role at Theranos, and the legal proceedings against him.

Early life and education

Balwani was born in Pakistan and moved to the United States in the early 1980s. He completed a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems from the University of Texas at Austin and later earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley.

Career

Before joining Theranos, Balwani worked in various technology companies, including Microsoft, Lotus Software, and Commerce One. He also co-founded a software company called Animorphic Systems, which was later acquired by Sun Microsystems.

Role at Theranos

Balwani joined Theranos in 2009 and became the president and COO of the company, working closely with CEO Elizabeth Holmes. Balwani was responsible for overseeing the development and operation of the company's blood-testing technology, which was claimed to revolutionize medical testing by using only a few drops of blood. However, it was later revealed that the technology was flawed and did not work as claimed.

Under Balwani's leadership, Theranos aggressively marketed its testing services to healthcare providers, patients, and investors, raising millions of dollars in funding. Balwani and Holmes concealed the limitations of the technology from regulators, investors, and the public, resulting in one of the most prominent corporate fraud cases in recent history.

Legal proceedings

Following investigations by federal agencies and a series of exposés by journalist John Carreyrou in The Wall Street Journal, Theranos came under scrutiny for its fraudulent claims. In 2018, Balwani and Holmes were charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud along with the CEO Elizabeth Holmes on nine counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The prosecution accused Holmes and Balwani of participating in two criminal schemes, one to defraud investors and another to deceive patients. In March 2020, a U.S. District Court Judge decided that Balwani would be tried separately from Holmes. In January 2022, Holmes was convicted of multiple fraud charges. Balwani was found guilty on all counts on July 7, 2022, facing up to 20 years in prison and millions of dollars in restitution. He was ultimately sentenced to 12 years and 11 months in prison, with an additional three years of probation, on December 7, 2022. Balwani began serving his sentence on March 15, 2023.

See also

• Theranos
• Elizabeth Holmes
• John Carreyrou
• Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup

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