Sunny Balwani and Elizabeth Holmes came into the limelight in March 2022 when ‘The Dropout’ aired on Hulu. While Elizabeth Holmes was convicted and found guilty of fraud, many people wonder about Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani’s fate following the accusations.
Keep reading to know what happened to Sunny Balwani following the Theranos controversy and his net worth in 2022.
Sunny Balwani’s net worth is $85 million as of 2022.
Who is Sunny Balwani?
Sunny Balwani is the former chief operating officer of Theranos, founded by Elizabeth Holmes. He was found guilty of 12 fraud charges, while his girlfriend Elizabeth is due for sentencing on September 26, 2022.
Sunny Balwani Early Life
Sunny Balwani was born to parents of Pakistani ancestry and spent a significant part of his early life in India. They moved to the US in 1986, and Balwani took admitted to the University of Texas at Austin when he was 21. His interest in information systems compelled him to start his own business, CommerceBid, after working with Microsoft and Lotus Software for some time.
CommerceBid
Sunny launched his company CommerceBid in 1998 before he joined Theranos. CommerceBid was among the few e-commerce platforms at that time that helped businesses buy and sell items online. However, he sold CommerceBid shares for $40 million and joined Theranos in 2009 as a chief operating officer.
Sunny Balwani Theranos
After selling his shares of CommerceBid, Sunny went to the University of California, Berkeley, to obtain his Master of Business Administration degree. He met Holmes in Beijing, China, during a language exchange program. Sunny Balwani received his computer science degree at Stanford University while Holmes completed her undergraduate in chemical engineering.
They grew from friends to partners soon though Sunny was married to Keiko Fujimoto then. Sunny and Keiko’s relationship ended in divorce, and Elizabeth moved in with him at his Palo Alto condo in 2005.
‘The Dropout’ mentions that both dropped their courses to focus on Theranos, which Elizabeth founded in 2003. Theranos was established to revolutionize the medical blood-testing industry. Sunny Balwani invested $13 million invest-free in Theranos to help Elizabeth boost her business. Sunny and Elizabeth had been dating since 2003, and she decided to bring him on board as the President and COO in 2009.
Mr. Balwani’s attorney mentioned during the court filing, “All Mr. Balwani did was put his heart and soul, and millions of dollars of his own money, toward changing the face of healthcare by giving these people access to cost-effective blood tests so they could take charge of their own health and monitor changes for signs of the disease. Mr. Balwani believed so much in Theranos that over the years, his own mother and other family members used the company’s lab to enable them to make informed decisions about important health care matters.”
Balwani became an executive in the company, but the board and employees did not appreciate his conduct due to his inexperience in the medical industry. Reports show that he always prohibited engineers and technologists from talking to each other.
Sunny resigned from his position in the business in 2016. He was earning $1 million per year at that time.
Sunny Balwani Net Worth
Sunny Balwani’s net worth is around $85 million as of 2022.
Sunny Balwani House
Sunny Balwani resides in a 9,000-square-foot luxury villa in California. He bought the villa for $16 million.
Sunny Balwani Cars
Besides property, Sunny has also invested money in luxury cars, including his recently bought BMW X9 at $150,000. He also owns a Porsche Macan worth over $160,000 besides McLaren GT, Bugatti Chiron, and Lamborghini Huracan.
Elizabeth Holmes’s Net Worth
Many viewers who followed the series are also interested to know the net worth of Elizabeth Holmes following the fraud trials.
Elizabeth had a net worth of $4.5 billion as of May 2021 from her business, and she wished to become the next Steve Jobs.
Sunny Balwani Theranos Fraud
Following Elizabeth’s fraud trial, Sunny Balwani was also found guilty of 12 federal criminal charges. He and Elizabeth may have to spend at least 20 years in prison.
The Bottom Line
Sunny Balwani gained fame in March 2022 when ‘The Dropout’ aired on Hulu. Born to parents of Pakistani descent, he spent a significant part of his life in India before moving to the US. He pursued an education at the University of Texas and later studied at Stanford University. Sunny joined Theranos in 2009 and invested $13 million in the founding years. However, he and his girlfriend Elizabeth Holmes were charged with fraud in 2018. Sunny Balwani’s net worth is around $85 million. Yet, you never know when it comes to zero, as he could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
FAQs
Does sunny Balwani have any money?
Sunny Balwani’s net worth is $85 million. He was found guilty on various charges and will face 20 years in prison.
How much money did Elizabeth Holmes get?
Forbes report shows that Elizabeth Holmes’ net worth has fallen to $0 from $4.5 billion after the Theranos controversy.
How much money did Sunny Balwani invest in Theranos?
Sunny Balwani invested interest-free $13 million into Theranos as goodwill.
Is Sunny rich?
While Sunny was found guilty of fraud charges along with his girlfriend Elizabeth Holmes, he has a net worth of $85 million in 2022.
Could Theranos have worked?
Reports suggest that Theranos could not run tests actively using a single drop of blood as the technology did not exist.
