Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is reportedly trying to start a new company - and she's already looking for investors in Silicon Valley

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Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is reportedly trying to start a new company - and she's already looking for investors in Silicon Valley

Elizabeth Holmes Theranos

Larry Busacca/Getty

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  • Elizabeth Holmes, the founder and CEO of blood-testing startup Theranos, is reportedly looking for investors for a new startup.
  • Holmes and Theranos were charged with "massive fraud" by the SEC earlier this year for misleading investors, customers, and the media.
  • As part of her settlement with the SEC, Holmes agreed to give up financial and voting control of Theranos. And while she's can't be the CEO of a public company for 10 years, she's still allowed to be the CEO of a privately held company.

The word is that Elizabeth Holmes is looking to raise money for a new startup.

The 34-year-old founder and CEO of embattled blood-testing startup Theranos is reportedly courting Silicon Valley investors in hopes of forming a new company, according to a Vanity Fair interview with Wall Street Journal reporter and author John Carreyrou.

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Carreyrou, the reporter that authored the piece that first revealed Theranos was misleading the public about its blood-testing product, didn't disclose what the new startup is or who Holmes is meeting with.

Holmes, Theranos, and the company's former president Sunny Balwani were charged with massive fraud by the SEC earlier this year. The SEC alleged that Theranos "made numerous false and misleading statements in investor presentations, product demonstrations, and media articles" about the company's blood-testing technology while raising more than $700 million.

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As part of the settlement, Holmes agreed to give up financial and voting control of the company, pay a $500,000 fine, return 18.9 million shares of Theranos stock, and cannot be a director or officer of a publicly traded company for 10 years. Incidentally, Theranos is a privately held company, which means Holmes has been allowed to stay on as CEO. The same rules would apply to a new startup venture.

In the wake of all the bad press, imploding business partnerships, and the SEC's "massive fraud" charge against Holmes, Theranos laid off most of its staff and is reportedly on the verge of bankruptcy.

Know anything about Holmes' new startup? Email Business Insider's biotech reporter, Lydia Ramsey, at lramsey@businessinsider.com

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