Sources checked 26 Oct 2026. "Fraud" and "guilty" refer only to the four counts Elizabeth Holmes was convicted on. Patient harm is described as trial testimony.
WSJ, Carreyrou, 2015-10-15, "Hot Startup Theranos Has Struggled With Its Blood-Test Technology": <10% of tests on Edison by late 2014; Siemens machines; dilution
Holmes admitted at trial she asked Murdoch to kill the story: CNBC 2021-11-30; CNN 2021-12-01
Murdoch refused, trusted editors: Bad Blood (via Wikipedia, John Carreyrou)
CMS letter 2016-01-25: deficiencies "pose immediate jeopardy to patient health and safety" (Medscape 2016-02-01; trial exhibit 4621a, files.cand.uscourts.gov)
CMS sanctions July 2016: Holmes banned from owning/operating a lab for 2 years; Edison results voided (CMS letter 2016-07-07)
SEC 2018-03-14: "massive fraud"; settled without admitting or denying; $500k, 10-year officer/director bar (sec.gov)
Sources checked 25 Oct 2026. Claims about the trucks are allegations by Hindenburg Research. Conviction, sentence and pardon are court facts.
First-day open $37.55, peak $93.99 on 9 Jun 2020, about $28.8B, briefly above Ford Source: CNBC; InvestorPlace
Hindenburg: the truck was "towed to the top of a hill"; Nikola: "never described as under its own propulsion" Source: Hindenburg Research report, Sep 2020; Business Insider, Sep 2020
2016 truck had "absolutely zero hydrogen technology" (allegation) Source: Hindenburg Research report, Sep 2020
GM stake and the Badger pickup dropped, 30 Nov 2020 Source: AP; CNBC
Trevor Milton sentenced to 4 years, Dec 2023 Source: US Department of Justice
Chapter 11 bankruptcy filed 19 Feb 2025 Source: US Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware, case 25-10258; Nikola press release, 19 Feb 2025
Prosecutors sought about $680M restitution plus $15.2M, two weeks before the pardon Source: CNBC
Pardon, 27-28 Mar 2025 Source: CNBC; Engadget
"More than $50 million" spent on 166+ Nikola semis, including after the 2021 indictment Source: Los Angeles Times, 18 Oct 2026