What is Sunny Balwani's net worth? Former Theranos COO and Elizabeth Holmes' ex-beau found guilty of fraud
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA: Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, a former high-ranking executive at Theranos, was convicted of collaborating with disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes on wire fraud involving the blood-testing company and misleading investors about the financial health on Thursday, July 7. The 12 jurors found Balwani guilty on all 12 felony counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Balwani was the president and chief operating officer of Theranos, a blood-testing company that claimed its technology could detect a multitude of diseases with just a few drops of a patient's blood.
Balwani and the company were accused of defrauding investors and patients, in part by misrepresenting the efficacy of Theranos' product and lying about the company's finances. Balwani began working at Theranos in 2009 while he and founder Elizabeth Holmes, his alleged co-conspirator, were secretly dating. The outcomes of defrauding put Balwani and Holmes in similar situations. Holmes was convicted in January on four of 11 counts of fraud. Each count carries a potential maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
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During that trial, Holmes tearfully accused Balwani of sexually and emotionally abusing her while they were lovers. An attorney for Balwani has vehemently denied those charges. Both Holmes, 38, and Balwani, 57, face up to 20 years in prison. Holmes is scheduled to be sentenced in late September. The date of Balwani's sentencing is expected to be set in the coming days.
Holmes' attorneys during her trial accused Balwani of misleading investors and lying about how much money the company was making. While Balwani was charged by the prosecution with overstating Theranos' revenues for seeking more funds for the company from investors. Whereas, Balwani's lawyers accused Holmes of controlling all aspects of the business at Theranos, including allegedly providing false data on its blood-testing technology.
Holmes founded Theranos in 2003, and by 2010, roughly a year after Balwani joined the company, it was valued at $1 billion. Four years later, Theranos raised another $400 million, bringing its valuation to $9 billion. But everything started to fall apart in late 2015 when a series of explosive articles in The Wall Street Journal exposed serious problems in Theranos' technology. In 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a report accusing Theranos of operating facilities that jeopardized patient health and safety, in part by failing to follow its own quality control guidelines.
What is Sunny Balwani's net worth?
Before getting into Balwani's net worth, first, let's get to know who Balwani is. Balwani was born in Pakistan as the son of Sindhi parents. Balwani and his family moved to India after experiencing religious prejudice in the country. Later on, at the age of 21, Balwani along with his family came to the United States, where he began to pursue his undergraduate degree at the University of Texas at Austin. After graduating he worked for companies like Lotus Software and Microsoft before launching his own company, CommerceBid, in 1998. The software development company was among the first to help businesses buy and sell items over the internet.
The following year, CommerceBid was acquired by another business development software company, allowing Balwani to join the new company's board of directors. Balwani decided to sell his shares in 2000, walking away with $40 million before the company went bankrupt. In 2009, Balwani was appointed as president and chief operating officer of Theranos. Before resigning from his position at Theranos in 2016, Sunny Balwani’s salary at the company was a reported $1, according to his attorney Jeffrey Coopersmith. Balwani’s net worth is estimated to be $85 million as of 2022, according to multiple net worth reports.
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Following the verdicts, US District Judge Edward Davila increased Balwani's bail to $750,000 from $500,000 and set his sentencing date for November 15. Holmes, who is being held on $500,000 bail, is set to be sentenced on September 26. “We are gratified by the jury’s hard work and attentiveness to the evidence presented. We appreciate the verdict and look forward to the sentencing proceedings,” US attorney Stephanie Hinds said outside the courthouse.