It feels like something from another time and the wheels of US justice have ground not just slow, but Covid-slow. Nevertheless, more than three years after the two most senior executives at Silicon Valley blood-test venture Theranos were indicted in a $700m fraud, the first trial has begun.
Jury selection in the case against founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes took place last week and hearings are set to begin after today’s Labor Day holiday. It promises to be one of the most intensely analysed tech court actions in many years, and not just because of the egregiousness of the scandal itself.
Two controversial aspects of Valley culture will, based on initial filings, form key planks in Holmes’s defence.
First will be the acceptability of start-ups using the ‘Fake it till you make it’ strategy as a way of attracting investors and customers.
Second, will be ‘Me Too’, the running sore that has highlighted the frequently abusive treatment of women in the workplace...