Recently unsealed lawsuit documents reveal high-profile investors collectively lost more than $600 million on blood-testing company Theranos, according to The New York Times.
Here are eight things to know about the lawsuit and Theranos.
1. The 2016 class-action lawsuit claims the company lied to investors. Lawsuit documents show high-profile investors, including Walmart's Walton family, Rupert Murdoch, and U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and her extended family, together lost hundreds of millions, according to the report.
2. According the Times, the Walton family invested about $150 million through multiple entities, Mr. Murdoch invested about $125 million, and Ms. DeVos and her extended family invested about $100 million. Additional notable investors included the Cox family, owner of Cox Enterprises ($100 million); a company affiliated with Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim (about $30 million); and New England Patriots owner Robert K. Kraft ($1 million).
3. Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes launched the company in 2003. She was 19 years old at the time.
4. When Theranos launched, the company promised to revolutionize blood testing by using a drop of blood from a person's finger to look for diseases at lower costs, reports the Times. However, Theranos has been plagued with troubles in recent years.
5. The troubles started in 2015, when John Carreyrou, an investigative reported with The Wall Street Journal, alleged Theranos' devices were flawed and inaccurate in an exposé. Following Mr. Carreyrou's report, federal officials conducted regulatory and quality investigations into the company. Theranos and Ms. Holmes were subsequently charged with fraud, according to a March filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. She settled the fraud charges in March. In April, Theranos laid off about 80 percent of its workforce to avoid bankruptcy.
6. In addition to the class-action lawsuit, Theranos may face a criminal investigation conducted bv the U.S. attorney in San Francisco, according to the Times.
7. Theranos did not respond to requests for comment from the Times. Representatives for Mr. Kraft, the Walton family, Cox Enterprises and News Corp. also declined to comment.
8. Greg McNeilly, the COO of The Windquest Group, the holding company of Ms. DeVos and her husband, told the Times the couple is "highly disappointed" in Theranos, and noted the joint $100 million investment spanned multiple generations and branches in the family, with the couple's share being "minor."
Read the full report here.
Jessica Kim Cohen contributed to this report.
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