I went to see why Silicon Valley can't stop laughing at Elizabeth Holmes
Why is Silicon Valley so willing to laugh at Elizabeth Holmes? I asked some techies at a documentary screening.
Silicon Valley techies gathered for a private screening of the Elizabeth Holmes documentary, hosted by AI startup Extend. Attendees viewed Holmes more as a joke than a symbol of their industry. Many tech firms across the US are hosting similar screenings of "You Can See Everything," a documentary by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim.
The irony is that Holmes has tarnished Silicon Valley's reputation. Holmes sold big dreams with her medical testing company, Theranos, which ultimately collapsed, and was convicted of defrauding investors of hundreds of millions of dollars. Despite her conviction, tech companies are still lining up for the documentary. At Extend's screening, attendees were fascinated by Holmes' story and found humor in her oddities and Fielder's awkward humor.
The crowd laughed at Fielder's discomfort and Holmes' quirks, while laughing at the reveal of who was running Holmes' X account. One attendee suggested that the tech crowd's comfort with laughing at Holmes might be due to the fact that they are mostly in their 20s and not yet working in startups when Holmes' downfall occurred. Another attendee believed that Holmes has become a meme, separated from her Silicon Valley roots.
Written by urgent.news from Business Insider's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
This story
This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.
- Silicon Valley's hot new talking points: beer and cigarettes businessinsider.com
