‘You can’t make this stuff up’: why we remain fascinated by Elizabeth Holmes

Elizabeth Holmes’s rise from teenage founder of Theranos to convicted fraudster is the subject of a new documentary, *You Can See Everything*. The film explores why her story still fascinates people: Holmes’s carefully cultivated persona and promise to transform healthcare won over powerful investors, despite the technology failing to deliver.

Holmes founded Theranos in 2003, aged 19, after leaving Stanford, claiming its technology could run hundreds of medical tests from a few drops of blood. She and business partner Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani raised $945m, and Holmes became America’s youngest self-made female billionaire, though the company had published no peer-reviewed data. Filmed in the 34 days before she began an 11-year sentence for wire fraud and conspiracy, the documentary pairs her with comedian Nathan Fielder, who co-directs with Lance Oppenheim.