Theranos whistleblower Tyler Shultz says documentary portrays Elizabeth Holmes differently
Tyler Shultz told CBS Mornings he was surprised by Elizabeth Holmes' appearance in the documentary "You Can See Everything," saying it differed from his recollection of her confidence and leadership.
Former Theranos employee and whistleblower Tyler Shultz said he was "pretty shocked" by the portrayal of Elizabeth Holmes in the documentary "You Can See Everything." He told CBS Mornings that the Holmes he knew "completely commanded a room, even if that room was full of secretaries of state, secretaries of defense, generals, senators. She would own a room," adding that the woman shown on screen appeared "almost unrecognizable."
Shultz also claimed Holmes misled documentary director Nathan Fielder by presenting a device that differed from the one used at Theranos. "She brings out the Theranos device, and she lays it across the table and all of its components, so you know you can see everything," Shultz said. "That was not the device that we worked with 12 hours a day, that we hid from regulators, that failed quality controls, that we used to knowingly give patients incorrect medical information. She completely misled [Fielder] down this completely different rabbit hole."
Holmes, who has not admitted wrongdoing, appears in the film at her San Diego rental in 2023, weeks before beginning an 11-year prison sentence for fraud convictions related to Theranos' blood-testing claims. The documentary also features her partner Billy Evans and their two children.
Holmes was convicted in 2022 of multiple counts of defrauding investors by claiming the company could conduct comprehensive clinical analyses from a fingertip blood sample. The technology was later found unable to deliver the promised results.
"She knows that she did something wrong," Shultz said. "She knows that she was lying, because she created this whole web of lies that you would not have needed to create if you actually believed the lies."
Shultz joined Theranos in 2013 as an intern, leaving a year later and later assisting investigations by the Wall Street Journal and regulatory agencies. He also appeared in the 2016 HBO documentary "The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley."
"You Can See Everything" premiered on Friday and earned $15 million in its opening weekend, making it the second-most profitable debut for a documentary.