The Untold Story Of The Elizabeth Holmes Photo That Framed The Scandal

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0:54Today on Forbes, that Forbes photo at the center of the Elizabeth Holmes documentary. The cover of the October 20th, 2014 print edition of Forbes is never directly shown in Nathan Fielder's new documentary, You Can See Everything. But, spoiler alert from here on out, it becomes a critical subplot because the subject, Elizabeth Holmes, apparently grew to intensely dislike the photo. The iconic image, shot for Forbes by photographer Ethan Pines, features Holmes in a turtleneck holding fake blood in one of the tiny vials her company Theranos used in its failed blood testing device. In the aftermath of Holmes' 2022 conviction for fraud, that cover endures.

1:45It's the most licensed image by far from the Forbes collection. And one of those licensees is Holmes herself, who used it as PR for Theranos. There are multiple parodies on TikTok and Instagram. The 2022 movie Glass Onion riffed on the cover with Edward Norton's character Miles Braun. Hulu's 2022 miniseries about Holmes, The Dropout, used a recreation of the image with star Amanda Seyfried as part of its marketing. In Fielder's documentary, it also heightens the blurry relationship between Holmes and her husband, Billy Evans, raising the question of whether or not they are working together to shape not just their business, but her image in the documentary.

2:30Holmes mentions at several points being uncomfortable with the image, even breaking down about it in one scene. Then-director Lance Oppenheim's cameras catch, on multiple occasions, the image used as part of a viral marketing campaign for a film, Just Blood, created by a Miami-based entrepreneur named Ryan L. Hosseini, who reportedly believes that Holmes is innocent of the charges she's serving time for. Pines recently sued L. Hosseini for copyright infringement, claiming the use of his photos wasn't licensed. The case settled out of court. Later in the film, after Holmes is in prison, Evans suggests he had some involvement with the Just Blood billboards featuring the photo.

3:15When Fielder confronts Evans about it, citing Holmes' purported discomfort with the image, Evans defends it. He says that she's fine with it. The truth, like in much of the film, remains unclear. What we do know is that Holmes herself played a major role in the cover photo she claims to now dislike. Pines, the photographer, says, quote, She did her own hair and makeup. She picked the wardrobe herself, including her usual black turtleneck she was often seen wearing. Pines added, quote, He added that although he was the one who wanted her holding something representing Theranos' technology in the shot, it was Holmes and her team who suggested the tiny vial.

4:02He said, quote, they were totally on board with it. The Holmes cover was actually one of five versions of that issue, spotlighting different members of the annual Forbes 400 list of richest Americans, with the others being Yahoo founder Jerry Yang, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Rocket Mortgage founder Dan Gilbert, and retail conglomerate L Brand's founder Les Wexner. Wexner has since faced his own subsequent scandal over his association with Jeffrey Epstein. If you happen to pick up a copy of the magazine, hold on to it. Its exact value is unclear, but a small collection of magazines with Holmes on the cover goes for$8 ,000 on eBay.

4:45Forbes doesn't actually profile Holmes in the issue, though. She only features in the magazine as part of the list of newcomers to the 400 that year, with another photo from the same shoot and a short blurb highlighting her wealth. At the time, Forbes valued Holmes' estimated net worth at$4.5 billion, based on her 50 % stake of Theranos, which had raised$400 million in investments that valued the company at$9 billion. At 30 years old, this made her the youngest self-made female billionaire at the time. She would be named to the Forbes 400 again the following year. In the June 15, 2015 edition, she also topped our first-ever list of richest self-made women.

5:30Contrary to popular internet belief, she never made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, though she did speak at the 2015 30 Under 30 Summit after being presented with a Doers Award. Soon after, the convicted fraudster's lies started catching up to her. In October 2015, the Wall Street Journal published reporter John Carey Rue's first blockbuster article on Holmes and Theranos. In December of that same year, she faced some hard questions from the audience at the Forbes Healthcare Summit, a stage from which she lied about her company's profitability. And are the tests profitable at that cost? They are.

6:08By June 2016, we revised our estimate of Holmes' net worth downward to where it still rests today. from$4.5 billion to zero. For full coverage, check out Alex Knapp's piece on Forbes.com. This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes. Thanks for tuning in.

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