Elizabeth Holmes has appeared to share a glamorous selfie on X despite being imprisoned, prompting millions of views and a series of apparently witty replies from her account.
The photograph shows the disgraced Theranos founder, 42, wearing full make-up, a black-and-white top and a snake ring while blowing a kiss at the camera. It was accompanied by the message: “The answer to every challenge lies in your heart.”
By Monday night, the post had been viewed more than 12 million times. The account told one user that the ring was “from a Taylor Swift merch stand” and responded to another who said Holmes had not “changed at all”: “True. But I don’t think that’s the insult you meant it to be.”
Asked where she was, using the abbreviation “wya”, the account replied: “Bryan Federal Prison Camp” – where Holmes is serving an 11-year sentence for defrauding investors.
A subsequent post clarified that the image was taken in 2019. Holmes has no internet access at the federal prison camp, and her X account is being run by her fiancée, Billy Evans.
Elizabeth Holmes documentary filmed before prison
The social media activity comes before the release of a secret documentary featuring Holmes and director Nathan Fielder, filmed shortly before she was sent to prison.
Rumours had circulated for years that Fielder had interviewed Holmes, although the project was kept confidential. Mobile phones were taken from attendees before the film was screened at the Telluride Film Festival.
A trailer shows Fielder and Holmes sitting opposite one another and discussing whether she is being genuine as they stare into each other’s eyes.
“I don’t have anything to deceive you on,” Holmes says.
She adds: “Of course I’m not deceiving you. I’m engaging with you as a human being. Why would I deceive you? There’s no reason for me to do that.”
Fielder replies: “OK. All right. OK, good chat. You’re being real right now?”
“I’m always being real,” Holmes answers. Her X account later reposted the trailer with the same words.
Holmes was convicted in 2022 on four counts of fraud after raising hundreds of millions of dollars from investors while misleading them about the technology behind Theranos. The company claimed it could perform hundreds of blood tests using a single drop obtained by a finger prick.
She was sentenced to a little over 11 years in prison after being convicted of wire fraud involving more than 140 million dollars. In a separate civil case, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused her of defrauding investors of 700 million dollars.
Holmes lost an appeal against her conviction in May. Her request for a commutation of her sentence, submitted in 2025, is listed as pending, while her current sentence is due to run until December 30, 2031.
