History Literature / BadBlood

* MayDecemberRomance: Holmes and Sunny were in a relationship for most of Therenos's existence. He is 19 years her senior.

''Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup'' by the French-American journalist John Carreyrou is the full inside story of the breathtaking rise and shocking collapse of the multibillion-dollar biotech startup by the prize-winning journalist, John Carreryrou, who first broke the story and pursued it to the end, despite pressure from its charismatic CEO and threats by her lawyers.

Not to be confused with that Music/TaylorSwift song or that [[WesternAnimation/BatmanBadBlood Batman movie]].

''Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup'' is the full inside story of the breathtaking rise and shocking collapse of the multibillion-dollar biotech startup by the prize-winning journalist, John Carreryrou, who first broke the story and pursued it to the end, despite pressure from its charismatic CEO and threats by her lawyers.

Not to be confused with that Music/TaylorSwift song or that [[WesternAnimation/BatmanBadBlood Batman movie.]]

* InsistentTerminology: Elizabeth's status as a college dropout is frequently mentioned every other time she personally appears in the narrative. Finally brought to a head in the final chapters, where it is explained that, contrary to other fields in Silicon Valley where you can "Fake it till you make it" a big reason Holmes failed was that you really CANT fake not knowing about medical practices and topics when you dropped out of college in your first year. Had Holmes gotten her degree and then started Theranos she would have been in a FAR better position to have a realistic assessment of her goals and dreams for Theranos.

** ''Walgreens'' somehow managed to hire an expert that, after making his due diligence, told them that Theranos looked a lot like a fraud and not to invest on them... only to '''ignore him''' and [[WhatAnIdiot invest on it anyway]]. Needless to say, [[ForegoneConclusion it didn't end well for Walgreens.]]

* InsistentTerminology: Elizabeth's status as a college dropout is frequently mentioned every other time she personally appears in the narrative.

* MainNepotism: Holmes eventually hires her younger brother, who is fresh out of college and has no work experience, and places him in a high position at Theranos. By all accounts, he spent most of time there browsing sport articles on the web or hanging out with the his old fraternity buddies, whom he also convinced Elizabeth to hire on.

* Main/Nepotism: Holmes eventually hires her younger brother, who is fresh out of college and has no work experience, and places him in a high position at Theranos. By all accounts, he spent most of time there browsing sport articles on the web or hanging out with the his old fraternity buddies, whom he also convinced Elizabeth to hire on.

* WithUsOrAgainstUs: Taken to insane levels by Elizabeth Holmes and Sunny. Anyone at Theranos who was not 100% behind Holmes or who voiced even the slightest but of concern about the company's tech was immediately branded a "cynic" or "not a team player" and would invariably be at marginalized or outright fired from their jobs. Meanwhile, sychophants who never questioned or disagreed with Holmes and Sunny were always promoted to better positions, even if they were incompetent.

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Attempted by Elizabeth Holmes, thinking that if she cozy up and surrounded herself by some of the most powerful people in Washington she would be untouchable. ''She wasn't.'' It only worked in the short term.

* ItsPersonal: Attempted by several characters throughout the book, like Sunny accusing Agilent Technologies and Quest Diagnostics, their '' bitter rivals'' on the Medical Laboratory industry, of espionage and starting a smear campaign against them [[note]] they weren't. [[/note]], and Richard Fuisz ''twice'' after being left bitter and offended at Holmes not consulting with him when founding Theranos. ''It never works'' and most times it ends in utter disaster.

** In some interviews, Theranos staff and Elizabeth Holmes touted the machine was being used by the military in combat. ''It wasn't.''

* BasedOnAGreatBigLie: Not the book (obviously), but Theranos early success were the reason why so many people invested money in it. Most infamously, ''Walgreens'' decided to not only invest in it, but also make a deal with them in order to open Theranos wellness centers in their stores which would future their machines. Except ''their machines never worked and couldn't do even half of what was promised'', forcing Theranos to use regular blood testing machines and rigging them (poorly) to take the diminutive "one drop" samples they were taking... [[AllForNothing before giving up on the whole thing]] and going with venipuncture blood draws for their testing. ''Which they still couldn't do properly.''

* NeverMyFault: Elizabeth Holmes' basic modus operandi. As of 2020 she has yet to apologize for her actions, instead blaming everyone else for Theranos failing as it did.

* BadassBaritone: Elizabeth Holmes has one. However, a number of characters believe that it's an affectation she perpetuates to appear more confident and authoratative.

* TheSpook: Despite supposedly having decades of experience in the tech industry, it is noted that there is almost no information online about Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani. Some employees speculate that he has somehow arranged for all his info to be scrubbed. Up to mid 2018 there were next to no photos of Balwani available online (this finally changed when ''60 Minutes'' managed to find some video of Balwani giving a speech about Theranos).

* HonestCorporateExecutive: Media mogul Rupert Murdoch (yes, really) purchased a large amount of Theranos shares during the company's prime, but when Elizabeth (who had been trying to cozy up to the chairman for quite some time by that point) tried to manipulate him into killing Carreyrou's story before it was published, Rupert refused, citing his faith in the Wall Street Journal's staff for quality content.

* BrokenPedestal: Many of the doomed protagonists initially joined Theranos because they genuinely believed in Elizabeth's vision of more efficient blood tests and how these new techniques could save countless lives only to quickly grow disillusioned when the infeasibility of this goal and Elizabeth's nonchalant attitude towards the failings of Theranos' technology and how the resulting inaccuracies could jeopardise the lives of the patients she purportedly wanted to help starts to sink in.

* AmoralAttorney: David Boies' court battles in support of LGBT rights are quickly contrasted with how he'll use all manner of underhanded manoeuvres and strong-arm tactics to help his clients win so long as he keeps getting paid. His fellow lawyers who work for Theranos such as Heather King are about as vicious with little concern as to whether or not the company's products work as intended.

''Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup'' is the full inside story of the breathtaking rise and shocking collapse of the multibillion-dollar biotech startup by the prize-winning journalist, John Carreryrou, who first broke the story and pursued it to the end, despite pressure from its charismatic CEO and threats by her lawyers

* TheSpook: Despite supposedly having decades of experience in the tech industry, it is noted that there is almost no information online about Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani. Some employees speculate that he has somehow arranged for all his info to be scrubbed. Even as of 2018 there are next to no photos of Balwani available online.

* TheSpook: Despite supposedly having over a decade of experience in the tech industry, it is noted that there is almost no information online about Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani. Some employees speculate that he has somehow arranged for all his info to be scrubbed. Even as of 2018 there are next to no photos of Balwani available online.

* CharmPerson: Elizabeth managed to trick a veritable cavalcade of powerful political and societal figures such as Henry Kissinger, Jim Mattis, George P. Shultz, Richard Murdoc, the Obamas, and the Clintons into believing in her and Theranos through sheer charisma and a little slight of hand.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Most of the book focuses on the individual stories of employees, partners, rivals, critics, and investors of Elizabeth's although many of them share common elements such as whether or not the person in question fell for her charms.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Most of the book focuses on the individual stories of employees, partners, rivals, critics, and investors of Elizabeth's although many of them share common elements such as whether or not the person in question fell for her charms.
* SelfMadeMan: