| In January 2016, federal inspectors said they had found "deficient practices" at Theranos's California lab that posed "immediate jeopardy" to patients. Separately, Theranos became the subject of a criminal probe and an SEC investigation into whether the company misled investors. In May 2016, Balwani left Theranos. Unbeknownst to employees, board members and investors, Holmes and Balwani had been dating since not long after she dropped out of Stanford. Later that month, Theranos notified federal health regulators it had voided all tests conducted on its Edison devices in 2014 and 2015. It sent tens of thousands of corrected blood-test reports to doctors and patients. Walgreens ended its partnership with Theranos in June and shut down lab-testing services in its pharmacies. Such facilities had been the primary avenue for Theranos to make money. The next blow came in July when regulators revoked Theranos's license to operate its California lab and banned Holmes from owning or operating a lab for at least two years. In October, the company announced it was shutting down its blood-testing operations and cutting 40% of its workforce, or around 340 employees. Instead, Theranos planned to sell a new device called the miniLab to other lab companies. Theranos faced lawsuits from multiple investors for allegedly misleading them about the company's technology during fundraising efforts. Walgreens sued for breach of contract. Several consumer lawsuits sought class-action status. At the start of 2017, Theranos laid off another 155 employees and voided more test results—including one for diabetes that Carreyrou had undergone in April 2015. The company ultimately voided nearly one million test results. In April 2017, Theranos agreed not to operate a clinical lab for at least two years in exchange for reduced penalties from federal health regulators. The company also reached a settlement with Arizona's attorney general to pay $4.65 million into a state fund to reimburse patients, without admitting wrongdoing. Theranos agreed to pay tens of millions of dollars to settle lawsuits brought by Walgreens and investors, a costly exercise for a company running short on cash. In December, Fortress Investment Group offered Theranos a $100 million loan, on the condition it met certain business targets. Theranos only received $65 million upfront. Theranos and Holmes in March 2018 agreed to a settlement with the SEC that stripped the founder of her voting control in the company, banned her from being an officer or director of any public company for 10 years and imposed a $500,000 penalty. The company and Holmes neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing. A month later, Theranos shrank even further, laying off all but around two dozen employees. Federal prosecutors filed criminal fraud charges against Holmes and Balwani in June. Theranos said Holmes was no longer CEO. As it struggled to stay afloat, the company reached out to more than 80 potential buyers, but no deal emerged. In September 2018, Theranos's cash levels dipped below the threshold dictated by its agreement with Fortress. The private-equity firm took ownership of the blood-testing company's patents and Theranos dissolved. "The company that was once among Silicon Valley's most valuable unicorns will go down in the annals of the Valley as its biggest fraud," Carreyrou told the "What's News" podcast after the announcement. | 
