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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Arwa Mahdawi

Elizabeth Holmes is rebranding herself as a sweet, devoted mother. Will anyone buy it?

The evil-CEO persona … Elizabeth Holmes.
The evil-CEO persona … Elizabeth Holmes. Photograph: Stephen Lam/Reuters

Meet Liz Holmes. She is a devoted mother of two little kids who loves nothing more than family outings to the zoo, walking her dog, and talking to her husband in a very normal voice that is absolutely nothing like the weird baritone her evil alter ego, Elizabeth, affected.

You remember Elizabeth Holmes, don’t you? Unlike nice, sweet Liz, Elizabeth was a bit of a schemer. Last year Holmes was convicted on four counts of defrauding investors, by pretending that her blood-testing startup, Theranos, was functional when it wasn’t, and given more than 11 years in prison. She was due to start her sentence on 27 April, but filed a last-minute appeal, buying her a little more time at home. How did she decide to spend those last precious moments of freedom? Taking her kids to the zoo and doing a photoshoot for the New York Times. After almost seven years of media silence, Holmes recently spent several days opening up to a Times writer over berries and Mexican food. The result is a 5,000-word profile introducing her new persona to the world.

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