BOMBSHELL

Theranos’ Elizabeth Holmes Accuses COO of Sexual and Verbal Abuse

The allegations were heard for the first time by a jury during Holmes’ fourth day of testimony.

Disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes accused her former business partner and lover of sexual and verbal abuse during an emotional day on the stand Monday. She said during her fourth day of testimony in her trial for fraud charges that Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, who served as the blood-testing company’s chief operating officer, would verbally attack her and question her intelligence. “He told me that I didn’t know what I was doing in business, that my convictions were wrong, that he was astonished at my mediocrity,” she said, accusing him of forcing her to have sex. The allegations were first made public in legal filings, but Monday’s hearing was the first time the jury has heard them. Balwani, who faces his own trial for fraud in January, has denied the allegations.