It's been nearly three months since HBO's documentary about Elizabeth Holmes , founder of fraudulent health tech corporation Theranos, yet interest in Holmes (from her voice , to her diet , to her relationship status ) is still going strong as she awaits trial.
Now, Standford professor Phyllis Gardner, MD, who met Holmes while she was a student at the university, is speaking up about why she always knew Theranos wasn't the real deal.
In a recent interview with The Mercury News , the Stanford professor said, "[Holmes] has been the burr under my saddle for years."
Gardner continued on to explain that the "gut, visceral reaction" she had when originally pitched by 19-year-old Holmes was unusual because she's "always tried to help students" and typically gives people "the benefit of the doubt."
But despite Holmes' initial success, Gardner never once wondered if she was wrong about her former student. "I just thought everybody was crazy," she told The Mercury News . "I mean, look at the board, thats insane. Thats not corporate feasance, thats malfeasance to have a board that knows nothing about any of this. Old men, Im telling you, the brains go to their groin."
What. A. Mic. Drop.
As for Holmes' questionably deep voice ? Just another example of how she's a fraud (apparently as a student, she had a "normal voice," per Gardner.)
While Gardner credits her experience as an adjuct partner of a venture firm for 15 years for not being in lured in by Holmes' fraudulent idea, she also says that being a woman played a key role in recognizing Holmes' deception.
"Most people are trustworthy and most people are decent. I picked this up because [Holmes] wasnt trustworthy. And why I could pick that up I dont know, except for Im not a man. That was part of it, trust me," Gardner said.