Theranos Trial: Pakistan-born Indian-American Tech Exec Convicted of Fraud

[RiazHaq]

Theranos Trial: Pakistan-born Indian-American Tech Exec Convicted of Fraud

In yet another blow to Silicon Valley's "fake it till you make it" mantra, a federal jury has convicted former Theranos executive Ramesh "Su...

www.southasiainvestor.com

In yet another blow to Silicon Valley's "fake it till you make it" mantra, a federal jury has convicted former Theranos executive Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani on all 12 counts of fraud. Balwani was born in 1965 in Pakistan to a Sindhi Hindu family. He attended Aitchison College, a prestigious prep school in Lahore that is also the alma mater of former Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan. His family emigrated to India in 1984 and then to the United States in 1987. He studied at the University of Texas at Austin and University of California at Berkeley. His one-time girlfriend and partner Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, was convicted on similar charges earlier this year. Both face up to 20 years in prison.

Elizabeth Holmes (L) and Sunny Balwani of Theranos

"Fake it till you make it" is a well-known phrase in Silicon Valley. It means to consciously cultivate an attitude, feeling, or perception of competence that you don't currently have by pretending you do until it becomes true. Holmes and Balwani claimed to have developed a proprietary blood-testing technology to produce results with just a few drops of blood from a finger prick, eliminating the need for large needles and vials of blood. They used this false claim to defraud unsuspecting investors, including VCs, of more than a billion US dollars.
Balwani, 57, ran the company’s lab, where the blood testing occurred, and was quick to rebuff and sometimes fire employees who raised concerns about the performance of Theranos technology, prosecutors and witnesses said. He was responsible for the financial models given to investors that greatly exaggerated revenue, prosecutors said, and he managed the company’s partnership with Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., in which the startup would offer its finger-prick tests inside the drugstore chain, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Balwani is a technology industry veteran. He has worked in the software industry, including at Lotus Software and Microsoft Corp., but much of his wealth is derived from CommerceBid.com, an e-commerce startup that was acquired by CommerceOne, led by Pakistani-American entrepreneur Asim Abdullah, for $228 million. Karachi-born Asim Abdullah now owns the fashion house of Emmanuel Ungaro.
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Theranos Trial: Pakistan-born Indian-American Tech Exec Convicted of Fraud

In yet another blow to Silicon Valley's "fake it till you make it" mantra, a federal jury has convicted former Theranos executive Ramesh "Su...

www.southasiainvestor.com

 

[SQ8]

So was it the Pakistani genes or the Indian influence that got him to do all of that?
Or was it simply the worst of both worlds?
at the end, he barely spent 3 years in India and is more Pakistani than Indian but then why consider that to have an impact?
He was in the states as well and its a combo of the company we keep that creates the man.

 

[srshkmr]

Looks like most fan boys are on a spot now considering there is no trolling from either side so far.

 

[my2cents]

Looks like most fan boys are on a spot now considering there is no trolling from either side so far.

They are confused

They are confused

But the girl friend is stunning

 

[xyxmt]

They are confused


But the girl friend is stunning

they are not confused they are 100% sure he is a Hindu

she is extra white means she is stunning? Even whites dont like this white

 

[Bilal9]

But the girl friend is stunning

Bhai you need to get out more. "Safed" is not the only standard of beauty.

On a more on-topic note, these two will be going to "club-Fed" white collar prison and be out in 5 years based on recognizance and good behavior. They will get tired of chef-cooked meals and playing tennis every day.

But fret not, they have stashed away hundreds of millions already. They are SET for life.

 

[Maula Jatt]

They are confused

He is Indian, many Muslims who moved during 80s are considered pakistani

But the girl friend is stunning

Braah are you kidding me lol ? She is ugly

 

[Bilal9]

they are not confused they are 100% sure he is a Hindu

she is extra white means she is stunning? Even whites dont like this white

Yeah I was gonna say, powder white.

Yuck!

And then the gravelly manly voice.

People should watch that movie they made for her. She is the daughter of an ENRON executive who went through humongous trauma.

Which does not excuse her fraudulent shortcut ascension to power using lies, or her continually misleading the financial sector on company finances and research results.

 

[my2cents]

Yeah I was gonna say, powder white.

Yuck!

And then the gravelly manly voice.

People should watch that movie they made for her. She is the daughter of an ENRON executive.

Why did people fall for their lies?
If not for her beauty and her brain.

 

[Bilal9]

Why did people fall for their lies?
If not for her beauty and her brain.

She has no brain - Sunny was the brains and the driving force (of the lies).

And beauty .... just look at the size of her chin and jaw.

Don't you look at models in India??

Or is every gora girl considered a beauty in India?

Anyway, to each his own I guess....

 

[Pak_Sher]

She has no brain - Sunny was the brains and the driving force (of the lies).

And beauty .... just look at the size of her chin and jaw.

Don't you look at models in India??

Or is every gora girl considered a beauty in India?

Anyway, to each his own I guess....

Great. He deserved it

 

[Bilal9]

Great. He deserved it

Some of these Desi people's greed gets the better of them.

They forget the US has laws and ways to prosecute law breakers.

It is not the subcontinent....

 

[INS_Vikrant]

Pakistan born Indian American lol

 

[my2cents]

She has no brain - Sunny was the brains and the driving force (of the lies).

And beauty .... just look at the size of her chin and jaw.

Don't you look at models in India??

Or is every gora girl considered a beauty in India?

Anyway, to each his own I guess....

I believe she went to Stanford University but dropped out to start the company Theranos. Any ways she found a willing partner in this crime. She had the influence to bring lot of bigwigs to support her and her company. When her cover was blown she dumped her boyfriend for another real-estate mogul. She is already out on bail and has a child with her new boyfriend.

 

[jhungary]

I believe she went to Stanford University but dropped out to start the company Theranos. Any ways she found a willing partner in this crime. She had the influence to bring lot of bigwigs to support her and her company. When her cover was blown she dumped her boyfriend for another real-estate mogul. She is already out on bail and has a child with her new boyfriend.

Or "she" may just be girl friend with all these people because of the "Perk" if you know what I mean.....

Both deserved to go down, be it white, Paksitani or Indian or what color of their skin.