Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, an American businessman, was the former president and chief operating officer of Theranos, a privately held health technology company founded by his then-girlfriend Elizabeth Holmes. He was born on June 13, 1965.
Theranos claimed to have developed a groundbreaking blood test that relied on very little volumes of blood, such as that obtained from a fingerstick.
Starting in 2015, Theranos was chastised in the media for making dubious claims and procedures.
The firm was finally forced to declare bankruptcy.
Federal prosecutors charged Balwani and Holmes with running the business as a multimillion-dollar scam to swindle investors and patients.
Balwani became a pivotal player in Holmes’ trial, partially because she accused him of abusing her in a cycle of emotional and sexual assault, which she claimed influenced her activities at Theranos.
The allegations of sexual assault, which Balwani’s counsel has categorically rejected, were one of the reasons why US district judge Edward Davila ordered that despite facing the same criminal charges, Holmes and Balwani should be tried separately.
