‘The Dropout’ created by Elizabeth Meriwether tells the story of Elizabeth Holmes (Amanda Seyfried), a Stanford high school dropout who creates a health technology start-up, Theranos, and hopes to revolutionize the blood testing industry. The series is based on the ABC Audio podcast of the same name created by Rebecca Jarvis and is inspired by the real-life scandal involving Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes. While at Theranos, Holmes was romantically involved with the company’s chief operating officer, Sunny Balwani. If you want to know more about the duo’s relationship and their current status quo, here’s everything we’ve gathered about it! SPOILERS AHEAD!
How did Elizabeth Holmes and Sunny Balwani meet?
Elizabeth Holmes was born on February 3, 1984 in Washington, DC. She joined Stanford and studied chemical engineering. However, before starting her studies, Holmes traveled to Beijing in 2002 as part of Stanford University’s Mandarin program. During this time, Holmes met Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, an American businessman and former software engineer. Balwani was born on June 13, 1965 in Pakistan and, after spending his youth in India, moved to the United States. He had recently earned around $40 million from his stake in software company CommerceBid.
When they first met, Holmes was only eighteen. On the other hand, Balwani was 37 years old and married to Keiko Fujimoto. However, the two formed a connection and stayed in touch. After Holmes left Stanford to start Theranos, she and Balwani grew closer and entered into a romantic relationship around 2003. At that time, Balwani was divorced and enrolled in a four-year computer science graduate program at Stanford. After Balwani joined Theranos, he and Holmes kept their relationship a secret from most board members and investors.
Are Elizabeth Holmes and Sunny Balwani still together? Why did they break up?
Holmes and Balwani continued their relationship during the early days of Theranos, but Balwani remained an outside influence on the company until 2009. In 2009, Balwani joined the company as chief operating officer and is busy with the day-to-day running of Theranos. However, around 2015, various sources began to question Theranos’ claims and practices, leading to intense media scrutiny. Balwani left the company in 2016 and his romance with Holmes is believed to have ended around the same time.
Woman by woman, we can help each other. #ironsisters #techwomen15 #theranos pic.twitter.com/MDCkjTlMf8
—Elizabeth Holmes (@eholmes2003) October 11, 2015
Although the exact reason for Balwani’s exit from Theranos remains unknown, some sources claim that he was fired. However, Balwani maintains that he resigned from the company. The exact reason for the end of the romantic relationship between Holmes and Balwani remains unknown, but their sour professional relationship is likely to be a factor. In 2018, Holmes and Balwani were charged with fraud. During her trial, Holmes accused Balwani of sexually abusing and controlling her during their time together. However, Balwani denied the allegations made against him.
Holmes was found guilty of four counts against her and is awaiting sentencing. Balwani is awaiting trial, which will begin in March 2022. Since splitting from Balwani, Holmes has been dating William “Billy” Evans, heir to the Evans Hotels group. The couple got engaged in 2019 and had a child together. On the other hand, Balwani’s whereabouts remain unknown and details about his personal life are scarce.
Read more: Where is The Dropout filmed?
