Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Theranos Executive to Depart Amid Regulatory Probes

wsj.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 84 posts

Re: Theranos Executive to Depart Amid Regulatory Probes

#31

Post by Aelinsaar »

markk wrote: post #10
pfarnsworth wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't this what one deserves if one tries to peddle something that doesn't work to investors, and then gets hundreds of millions of dollars for it?

This is advocating revenge, and being pleased to see someone suffer. Imagine she had a breakdown due to stress and her life went off the rails - would you feel that was fair? How much would she have to suffer before you are satisfied?

I'd say that when the inevitable criminal probe is done, we'll have a better answer to that particular 'question'.

Re: Theranos Executive to Depart Amid Regulatory Probes

#32

Post by Mz »

markk wrote: post #25
ceocoder wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is really hard to feel happy when you are poor (first hand experience), Money can buy happiness[1][2]. Conversely we do feel much joy when we see someone we envy fail, more so if we feel (rightly or not) that their success was ill deserved[3]. [1] https://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/WE-AA766B_HAPPY_1... - from page 12 of [2] [2] http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2013/... [3] https://blo…

Wrt money - I'm just pointing out that assuming someone is happy because they are rich is flawed. 3 is interesting, and backed up by what's happening in this thread. My question is really: is that the world we want to live in? Throughout human history we have gradually been curtailing our violence as a species, and I hope everyone here thinks that's been a good thing, and hopes it will continue. Wishing suffering on…

Talk is cheap. Most people won't actually do all that much to back up their big feels. I have a good sob story. I doubt you would do more for me than pat me on the head.

Mind you, I don't actually want pity. What I really want is respect for my competence and assistance in becoming successful in my own right. But I run into a lot of people who spend a lot of time on their high horse about wanting the world to be a better place. In most cases, these are the people who have treated me the worst -- who neither will give me genuine respect as a competent human being and a hand up nor so called compassion and a hand out.

I think if you really think that bad thoughts are a form of violence and you want this to be a nicer world, then arguing with people here and criticising them is a kind of violence as well, plus a form of hypocrisy. What are you doing to actually make the world a better place?

Re: Theranos Executive to Depart Amid Regulatory Probes

#33

Post by PascalsMugger »

markk wrote: post #13
jonknee wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

She benefited greatly from a cult of personality on the way up and is now finding out it goes both ways. I myself don't feel bad for someone who enriched herself while peddling snake oil and knowingly giving junk test results to real patients . It is despicable.

I hear you, and I also don't necessarily approve of her actions. However at a human level, this is simply a human in pain (assuming she is stressed). Bear in mind, she only benefited in cash, we don't know what her experience of her life is like.

This pain is one of the most potent things that keeps people from trying to pull off fraud more often.

Re: Theranos Executive to Depart Amid Regulatory Probes

#34

Post by beachstartup »

markk wrote: post #10
pfarnsworth wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't this what one deserves if one tries to peddle something that doesn't work to investors, and then gets hundreds of millions of dollars for it?

This is advocating revenge, and being pleased to see someone suffer. Imagine she had a breakdown due to stress and her life went off the rails - would you feel that was fair? How much would she have to suffer before you are satisfied?

yes, it's fair, because in exchange, she has been paid millions of dollars. you think she's giving any of that back?

Re: Theranos Executive to Depart Amid Regulatory Probes

#35

Post by rgbrenner »

markk wrote: post #10
pfarnsworth wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't this what one deserves if one tries to peddle something that doesn't work to investors, and then gets hundreds of millions of dollars for it?

This is advocating revenge, and being pleased to see someone suffer. Imagine she had a breakdown due to stress and her life went off the rails - would you feel that was fair? How much would she have to suffer before you are satisfied?

I would say the fair amount of stress is equal to the amount of joy she must have experienced when her net worth went from $0 to 4.5 billion. The stress she is experiencing now is simply part of the way to 0.

Re: Theranos Executive to Depart Amid Regulatory Probes

#36

Post by kiba »

w1ntermute wrote: post #6
epistasis wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Holmes has already cashed out enough to be in a perfectly fine situation. I have little sympathy for her stress level, as it Holmes that has poorly handled the situation while profiting personally. I worry much more about the stress from regular, honest people that are now associated with Theranos. It would suck to spend many years there, assuming that other parts of the company were doing their job correctly, only t…

Whatever Holmes has cashed out aside, she comes from a highly privileged background. There was never any danger to her of ending up destitute, regardless of whether Theranos worked out.

Really? Would her family disown her?

What jobs would she get?

Re: Theranos Executive to Depart Amid Regulatory Probes

#37

Post by w1ntermute »

kiba wrote: post #36
w1ntermute wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whatever Holmes has cashed out aside, she comes from a highly privileged background. There was never any danger to her of ending up destitute, regardless of whether Theranos worked out.

Really? Would her family disown her? What jobs would she get?

Given she was able to swindle investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars, I don't think she'll have any difficulty convincing her family not to disown her.

She probably doesn't need a job, given her family's wealth, but her father is well-connected government official. I'm sure he could get her a position at some agency or other, if she really wanted one.

> Elizabeth’s father, Christian IV, grew up in California, raised by his mother, a former Powers model, whose second husband was a prominent San Francisco businessman. The family moved in powerful circles. Mr. Holmes took a Hearst daughter to a debutante cotillion in 1967.

> Mr. Holmes had a distinguished career in public service, holding a number of senior government positions in Washington.[0]

0: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/20/business/theranos-founder-...

Re: Theranos Executive to Depart Amid Regulatory Probes

#38

Post by markk »

Mz wrote: post #32
markk wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wrt money - I'm just pointing out that assuming someone is happy because they are rich is flawed. 3 is interesting, and backed up by what's happening in this thread. My question is really: is that the world we want to live in? Throughout human history we have gradually been curtailing our violence as a species, and I hope everyone here thinks that's been a good thing, and hopes it will continue. Wishing suffering on…

Talk is cheap. Most people won't actually do all that much to back up their big feels. I have a good sob story. I doubt you would do more for me than pat me on the head. Mind you, I don't actually want pity. What I really want is respect for my competence and assistance in becoming successful in my own right. But I run into a lot of people who spend a lot of time on their high horse about wanting the world to be a be…

Yes, maybe I am being hypocritical.

Re: Theranos Executive to Depart Amid Regulatory Probes

#39

Post by nihonde »

markk wrote: post #10
pfarnsworth wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't this what one deserves if one tries to peddle something that doesn't work to investors, and then gets hundreds of millions of dollars for it?

This is advocating revenge, and being pleased to see someone suffer. Imagine she had a breakdown due to stress and her life went off the rails - would you feel that was fair? How much would she have to suffer before you are satisfied?

It's not revenge. It's accountability, and there can never be enough of it. If business leaders aren't held to account for their actions, then they are incentivized to misbehave and deceive others, which has a negative impact on everyone——especially those who would put capital to better uses.

Re: Theranos Executive to Depart Amid Regulatory Probes

#40

Post by 2muchcoffeeman »

markk wrote: post #13
jonknee wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

She benefited greatly from a cult of personality on the way up and is now finding out it goes both ways. I myself don't feel bad for someone who enriched herself while peddling snake oil and knowingly giving junk test results to real patients . It is despicable.

I hear you, and I also don't necessarily approve of her actions. However at a human level, this is simply a human in pain (assuming she is stressed). Bear in mind, she only benefited in cash, we don't know what her experience of her life is like.

That's kind of a strange response. Holmes made millions of dollars administering bogus blood tests to real patients. She had real employees. Due to her potentially wilful incompetence a lot of people are suffering.

I don't believe anyone here is advocating that we inflict physical punishment on her. But hoping that she loses her company and never gets to work in the medical field again not only seems like just punishment, but it seems prudent since she was studying chemical engineering when she dropped out.

It's unlikely she's even going to be poor. She'll probably still be worth more than you or I, and would never have to work for the rest of her life.

Post reply on HN