Ramesh Balwani is an entrepreneur from the United States. Ramesh Balwani served as the president of Theranos Biotechnology Company, a privately owned health technology firm. He has also served as Theranos’ previous chief operating officer (COO).
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Childhood and Early Years
Ramesh Balwani is a 55-year-old Indian businessman. He was born to a Hindu family in Pakistan on June 13, 1965. However, his precise date of birth is unclear, since Wikipedia lists him as having been born between March and June 1965. His family later relocated to India because living as a Hindu in Pakistan was challenging. His family also relocated to the United States.When it comes to his personal life, nothing is said of his parents and family friends. He is of Indian-American nationality and Asian heritage.
Education
In 1986, Ramesh Balwani enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a member of the Pakistani Students Association. He has a bachelor’s degree in artificial intelligence and information technology.
He returned to school in 2003 to earn a master’s degree in business administration at the University of California, Berkeley. He encountered Elizabeth Holmes when he was at Berkeley. She was a student in high school at the time. He then spent another four years at Stanford University in a computer science degree program before dropping out in 2009.
Career and professional life
Balwani worked with Lotus tech and Microsoft before forming Commercebid, according to his resume. Balwani entered Theranos in 2009, only a few years after Holmes formed it. He’d never had any formal experience in biological sciences or medical technology, which caused him a lot of difficulties. He dropped his chemical engineering degree to focus full-time on Theranos.
Similarly, his treatment of Theranos workers was unprofessional. He was overbearing, uncompromising, and demanding, according to the staff. In addition, he was suspicious of industrial espionage and attempted to preserve paranoid-level confidentiality in business affairs. Furthermore, Theranos reported to have created systems that would use microscopic blood volumes to simplify and miniaturize blood samples. The device’s blood collecting vessel and analysis unit were given the names “nanotainer” and “Edison” by the staff.
He also went so far as to compare the device’s development to the detection of antibiotics. Similarly, Balwani used to chat about things he didn’t know about, which the staff picked up on. According to an October 2015 study, Theranos’ Edison blood-testing system provides false medical diagnoses and outcomes. As a consequence, the system failed many quality-control tests and produced wildly inaccurate performance.
Similarly, in April 2016, the corporation was forced to invalidate all test findings from the devices for the years 2014 and 2015. Despite conducting the experiments on standard computers, they had to invalidate the findings of many other tests. Following an investigation of Theranos’ Newark laboratory, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) sent an alert letter to the organization in January 2016. Balwani could be barred from owning or running a blood lab for two years, according to the CMS, since the firm was unable to resolve the problems in their California lab.
Legal Concerns
On March 14, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Balwani, Theranos, and Holmes with major fraud. He has been accused of violating the US Security Act four times as a result of this. He “concentrated on designing applications for Theranos’ systems and overseeing staff and activities,” according to the SEC, and “collaborated together with [Holmes] and took business decisions together.” Balwani was also suspected of deceiving and manipulating pharmacies, drug shops, and investors, according to the lawsuit.
Similarly, Theranos’ fines included the company’s interactions with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Balwani made misleading claims regarding Theranos not needing FDA approval or clearance, according to the SEC. On June 15, 2018, a federal grand jury charged him and Holmes with nine charges of wire fraud and two counts of intent to commit wire fraud, after a two-year probe by the US Attorney’s Office in San Francisco.
Net Worth and Awards
He has not been elected or won, according to reports. He is, though, a hard worker. Ramesh Balwani does not currently work with any organization. He used to work with Theranos until 2018. As of 2020, his net worth is being assessed. He had a net worth of $85 million while he was younger. Theranos has now ceased to exist as a corporation. At the moment, his net worth is $0, which is a significant decline.
Relationship Status
Ramesh Balwani married Japanese artist Keiko Fujimoto, but the couple divorced in 2004. There isn’t any material about their marriage. They did, though, part ways.Balwani has also been connected to Elizabeth Holmes in the past. They met in Berkeley in 2003, when Holmes was a Senior High School student of 18 years old. Furthermore, no one heard about their romance until Holmes admitted it during her 2017 deposition.
They ended their friendship due to a variety of technical and personal issues. Despite the fact that Elizabeth and her fiance, William Billy Evans, were engaged. In 2019, he serves with Luminar Technology as a special projects manager.
Controversy
When it comes to Ramesh Balwani’s scandals, he has had a lot of them since serving at Theranos. He has no background in biological sciences or medical technology. He continued to serve as president of Theranos, a blood-testing firm. He has also been involved in controversy as a result of his behavior.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has sued and is following Theranos maker Elizabeth Holmes and former COO Ramesh Balwani for huge fraud. Balwani, on the other hand, maintains that he is not guilty as alleged and that he will contest in court for the false accusations, as his solicitor said in March 2019. If he is found guilty, he may serve a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
Body Dimensions
Balwani is 5 foot 7 inches tall and weights 68 kilograms, according to online reports. In addition, he has black eyes and black eyebrows. Aside from that, little is known about her other acts.
Quick Facts
Full Name: | Ramesh Balwani |
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Gender: | Male |
Profession: | Entrepreneur |
Country: | Pakistan |
Height: | 5 feet 0 inches (1.52m) |
Marital Status: | divorce |
Break Up | Elizabeth Holmes |
Divorce | Keiko Fujimoto |
Net Worth | $85 million |
Eye Color | Black |
Hair Color | Black |
Nationality | Pakistani-American |
Ethnicity | Asian |
Religion | Hindu |
Education | University of Texas |
Wiki | Ramesh Balwani Wiki |