- Elizabeth Holmes is known as a former biotechnology entrepreneur and convicted American fraudster.
- She is married to Billy Evans.
- Elizabeth was previously romantically involved with technology entrepreneur Ramesh Balwani.
- She recently gave birth to her second child.
Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, 39, started her 11-year prison sentence for multiple counts of fraud on May 30, 2023, and she shares two children with her husband, William “Billy” Evans. Elizabeth had founded the healthcare company Theranos in 2003, which quickly became noteworthy, because it had created a blood test that claimed to only require a small amount of blood. The Silicon Valley-based company grew and received investments for years before announcing a partnership with Walgreens in 2013. In 2015, The Wall Street Journal began publishing investigative stories surrounding the company, and revealed that the blood tests weren’t accurate. After being exposed, the company faced legal issues related to the false tests and was barred from certain medical practices.
Amidst the issues Theranos was already facing, the U.S. Securities And Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Elizabeth and the company’s former president Ramesh Balwani, who is also her ex-husband, with fraud for swindling investors out of $700 million via false advertisement in 2018. Theranos agreed to a half-million dollar settlement against the fraud charges, according to an SEC press release. Between 2016 and 2018 (when the company shared that it was shutting down), hundreds of Theranos employees were laid off. Elizabeth started her trial for the wire fraud and conspiracy charges on September 8, via ABC News, and was found guilty of four out of 11 counts of fraud for claims made to investors and patients, including three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Amidst all of the controversy surrounding Theranos, Elizabeth got engaged and married to Evans Hotels heir William “Billy” Evans in 2019. Find out everything you need to know about Billy and his relationship with Elizabeth here!
Elizabeth Holmes And William “Billy” Evans
As mentioned above, Billy Evans’ grandparents were the founders of the San Diego area-based Evans Hotel Group. Anne and William D. Evans founded the hotel company in 1953. William D. died in 1984, and the couple’s two oldest children Grace Evans Cherahore and William L. Evans took on leadership roles, according to the company’s website. Billy doesn’t work for the hotel group. His only public social media profile is for his LinkedIn, which indicates that he was a 2015 graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.). His last job listed on the profile was as the manager of special projects for Luminar Technology from February 2017 to January 2019. Elizabeth and William began dating in 2017 and tied the knot in 2019 at a secret wedding. The two had a son, William Holmes Evans, in July 2021, and welcomed their second child in late 2022 or early 2023, but that baby’s gender and birthdate have yet to be revealed.
While both of their social media accounts are private, Vanity Fair reporter Nick Bilton tweeted out screenshots taken from Billy’s social media page, including one where he wrote a sweet birthday message to Elizabeth. “Happy bday to my best friend. The last year has been the best I’ve ever had,” he wrote.
How Did Elizabeth And Billy Meet?
Billy and the Theranos founder met at a party in the Bay Area in 2017, according to The New York Post. The two got engaged in 2019 and invites were sent out quickly after. Billy showed his love for the former CEO by giving her a signet ring from MIT., a colleague told The Post. “Billy and the MIT ring, they are inseparable. He always wore it on his pinky finger,” the colleague said. “He could snap his fingers and have a triple-A diamond engagement ring instantly if he wanted to. But if you give her some extravagant ring, it could end up owned by the feds if she has to give up her material possessions.”
Despite the two seeming smitten with each other, there has allegedly been push back from the Evans family. “His family is like, ‘What the f**k are you doing?’ It’s like he’s been brainwashed. [He says,] ‘The media has it all wrong about her,’” a source told The Post in 2019. Billy’s dad also allegedly showed up to Elizabeth’s trial in disguise, claiming to be named “Hanson,” according to NPR.
What Does William Do?
While William’s current job situation isn’t clear, he’s had quite an impressive resume, according to his LinkedIn. As an MIT student, he interned with Qualcomm Ventures and Encore Capital Group. He later had seasonal positions as a summer analyst at Altman Vilandrie & Company and as a summer associate at The Boston Consulting Group. He was also a Student Brand Ambassador for Red Bull, while going through school. After graduating, he was a Strategy and Analytics Leadership Program Analyst for LinkedIn from July 2015 until February 2017. He left the social media site to become the Manager of Special Projects at Luminar Technologies, which he left in January 2019. Some people speculated that he left the company due to the risk for bad publicity related to his relationship with Elizabeth, according to The Post.
Elizabeth And William’s Family
Elizabeth and William have two children, including William Holmes Evans, who was born in July 2021. Elizabeth’s first pregnancy caused her trial to be delayed, via ABC News. Other than pushing the trial back further than it had been due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it also led to the judge allowing a quiet room on premises that would allow Elizabeth to spend time with her baby during breaks in the trial.
Moving Forward
Elizabeth faced up to 20 years in prison for her wire fraud charges and received a sentence of 11 years. She tried appealing, but that appeal was denied, and she entered prison on May 30, 2023. Billy’s future career plans are also unknown. In 2019, he supposedly was considering starting his own company and had traveled to South Africa for a potential opportunity, but it remains to be seen what his next venture is. He will raise their two children on his own while Elizabeth is behind bars.