Last week, the highly-anticipated criminal fraud trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes finally kicked off in a San Jose courtroom.
At her peak, when Theranos was privately valued at $9 billion, Elizabeth's 50% stake gave her a paper net worth of $4.5 billion. She graced countless magazine covers and was hailed as the richest self-made woman of all time. Unfortunately, as you may have heard, Theranos started to implode in 2015 amid allegations the startup was a giant fraud. Elizabeth allegedly raised hundreds of millions of dollars of private capital based on lies about the capabilities of the company's magical testing machines.
By 2016 Elizabeth's entire fortune was wiped out.
In June 2018 Elizabeth Holmes was indicted by a federal grand jury on nine counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. In August 2018 the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Elizabeth with deceiving investors by "massive fraud" through false and/or exaggerated claims about the accuracy of Theranos' blood testing machines. In September 2018 Theranos as a company was officially dissolved. That must have been a tough four month run for EH.
Elizabeth ultimately settled the SEC charges by agreeing to pay a $500,000 fine, relinquishing 18.9 million shares in the (basically worthless) company, relinquishing her voting control of the company and agreeing to be barred from serving as an officer or director of public company for 10 years.
She's still up against those federal wire fraud charges. Officially known as "United States v. Holmes, et al," the trial was delayed for over a year due to Holmes getting pregnant and the COVID-19 pandemic. The trial is expected to last around three months.
Elizabeth is facing some potentially very serious consequences for her actions. If she's convicted, the charges carry a maximum twenty year prison sentence.
So where is this former billionaire going home every night to lick her wounds from the trial? As a very clever CNBC reporting team discovered, Elizabeth is living 30 minutes north of the court house in the town of Woodside. That's not particularly notable. What is notable is that she and her husband are apparently living on the grounds of a legendary 74-acre estate called Green Gables. A legendary estate that is currently for sale. The asking price?
$135 million
We actually wrote about Green Gables when the listing first hit the market back in October 2018.
Green Gables is the longtime vacation home of the Fleishhacker family. Fleishhacker is a name you see dotted all around San Francisco. The entire SF zoo used to be called "The Fleishhacker Zoo." Not far from the zoo you can still see the ruins of the Fleishhacker public pool, which at one time was the largest outdoor saltwater pool in the world.
Family patriarch Mortimer Fleishhacker (1866 – 1953) came from a family that had made a great fortune in the California gold rush of the 1880s. Mortimer then took his inheritance and founded the Anglo-California Bank which eventually became the Crocker Bank, which eventually became part of Wells Fargo. He also founded the Great Western Power Company which built California's first power plants.
Looking to escape San Francisco's famously cold winters/summer/spring and fall, in 1907 Mort bought his first parcel of land in the town of Woodside. Over the years he expanded the Woodside estate to 74 acres. He also built a large main home and seven additional homes on the property.
Here is a video tour of the magnificent estate:
Elizabeth and her husband are apparently living in one of the home's seven estates.
How do we know this?
Apparently a diligent CNBC reported discovered that Elizabeth's husband Billy Evans was pulled over on March 17 for failing to display a license plate. For his address, the citation showed the same address as Green Gables.
Elizabeth joins royalty, politicians, celebrities and some of the wealthiest people in the world who have stayed at Green Gables. Not sure if this adds or detracts from the home's desirability.
How are they able to afford their rent if Elizabeth has no money?
As it turns out, her husband Billy Evans comes from a wealthy family. William "Billy" Evans is the heir to the Evans Hotel Group. According to their website, the Evans Hotel Group owns three luxury hotels in the San Diego area:
The Lodge Torrey Pines: AAA Five Diamond resort featuring 170 rooms overlooking the Torrey Pines Golf Course with views of the Pacific Ocean
Bahia Resort Hotel: A 314-room resort on 14-acres in Mission Bay. Fun fact, in 1985 the cast of "Top Gun" stayed at Bahia while filming. They apparently had a A LOT of fun at their resort in their off-time.
Catamaran Resort Hotel and Spa: A Polynesian-themed resort with 310 rooms and suites, also on the shores of Mission Bay.
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