Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes, who was convicted last year on multiple charges of defrauding investors, could be released from prison nearly two years earlier than expected. According to the Bureau of Prisons’ projected release date, Holmes’s expected release is now set for December 29, 2032, subtracting approximately two years from her original 11-year sentence.
The discrepancy in the release date calculation appears to be due to the way the Bureau of Prisons calculates estimated release dates. While the agency did not comment on Holmes specifically, it explained that inmates can earn good conduct time (GCT) towards their release date. Qualified inmates can currently earn up to 54 days of GCT time for each year of their sentence. Additionally, inmates can earn time credits through participation in various prison programs.
Holmes, once regarded as an icon in the world of technology, is currently serving her sentence at Camp Bryan Federal Prison, a minimum-security facility located approximately 100 miles from Houston. In May, her request for bail while she fought to overturn her conviction was denied by an appeals court.
Theranos, the company she founded, was valued at $9 billion at its peak, and Holmes was considered a paper billionaire. However, in 2015, an investigation by The Wall Street Journal revealed the company’s fraudulent practices. Theranos had only performed a handful of tests out of the hundreds it claimed to offer and relied on third-party devices instead of its own technology.
Holmes’s case is a reminder of Silicon Valley’s ambitious and potentially deceptive nature. While she is now one of the few tech executives serving time in prison, her release date reduction reflects standard calculations applied to all inmates, taking into account various factors such as good behavior and participation in rehabilitation programs.