Who is Elizabeth Holmes?

It’s rare for me to see a movie and to be so totally intrigued. On Saturday, I saw the almost three hour movie You Can See Everything directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim. Just for context, the movie is a documentary about Elizabeth Holmes, a 42 year old former businesswoman who was convicted of fraud and was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison. She raised millions of dollars for her company Theranos which she claimed very convincingly would revolutionize health care. She reported having developed a finger prick blood test that would yield lots of information with a very small amount of blood. She was skilled enough to defraud many millionaires and interestingly, many politicians who served on her board of directors.

I have to make it clear that I have never met or spoken to Elizabeth Holmes. Nonetheless, I have been a practicing clinical psychologist for decades and feel confident to speculate about Holmes’ character and the character of her boyfriend Sunny Balwani who was also involved in Theranos and convicted of fraud. Additionally, I will discuss the character of Holmes’ current husband, Billy Evans who is the father of her 2 young children.

The movie is unusual in that it is a documentary in which the filmmakers and producers, Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim live with the family for the 34 days prior to her entry into federal prison. This is what appears to be an attempt by Ms. Holmes to redeem herself and offer total transparency. I cannot think of another legitimate reason for her to agree to have filmmakers in her home. While being interviewed by Fielder and interacting with her family, Holmes presents as a naive and somewhat disheveled woman. Her usual signature look with her silky blonde hair worn up and wearing flattering bright lipstick has morphed into unkempt hair and a wide eyed stare. She presents as not understanding humor and is described by her very controlling husband, Billy Evans, as thinking differently than the average person. I believe he offers this up in an attempt for us to see her as a brilliant but kind woman who would have little ability to hurt others.

Clinically, I would diagnose Ms. Holmes with antisocial personality disorder which is more commonly referred to as sociopathy. She meets many of the criteria for this diagnosis including: deceitfulness, lack of remorse, reckless disregard for others, and engaging in illegal behavior. I do not believe that she is an innocent woman bullied into misbehavior by her much older boyfriend, Sunny Balwani or her equally controlling and domineering husband Billy Evans. Instead, I refer you to the concept of assortative mating in which it is believed that individuals tend to mate with partners that have similar traits.I believe that Ms. Holmes portrays herself, in this movie, in a very carefully curated manner. I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if she rehearsed this role of presenting as a naive and misunderstood woman who understands technology but not people. If this were truly the case, she would never have been able to defraud wealthy investors and her board of directors. If you go see the movie, keep in mind that individuals who are clever sociopaths can play many different roles.