The Theranos Story, ch. 45: a ‘Christmas present’ $100 million loan from Fortress averts bankruptcy (updated 8 Jan)

[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/jacobs-well-texas-woe1.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]A present or a Trojan Horse? Revealed on Christmas Eve by the intrepid John Carreyrou of the Wall Street Journal (paywalled) is Theranos’ securing of a $100 million loan from Fortress Investment Group LLC. This Editor notes the word ‘loan’, and loans come with conditions. Mr. Carreyrou revealed that according to an email sent by (unbelievably still in place) CEO Elizabeth Holmes on Friday 22 December and reviewed by the WSJ, it is “subject to achieving certain product and operational milestones.” 

As our Readers know, with the Walgreens Boots settlement in August, cash on hand from June was about $54 million with a burn rate of $10 million per month [TTA 3 Aug]. Technically, Theranos was out of funds by December. This Editor thought the next article on Theranos would be an obituary issued from their warehouse in Newark, California. Updated: As of 8 Jan, there is no announcement on the Theranos website or comment to press.

According to the article, Fortress specializes in distressed investments. “The loan from Fortress is collateralized by Theranos’s patent portfolio and the deal grants Fortress warrants for 4% of the company’s equity, Ms. Holmes told investors in her email. She said she anticipated the loan would provide Theranos “sufficient liquidity through 2018” which is quite a fan dance.

Interestingly, Japan’s SoftBank Group completed its acquisition of Fortress yesterday (release). 

Our takeaway is that the IP is worth far more than the company and that is what has been bought. SoftBank would dearly like another entree into Silicon Valley for their tech portfolio and can use that IP, if not at Theranos, elsewhere. For Fortress, which has $36.1 billion in assets under management and now backed by SoftBank, $100 million is pocket change with a smidge of lint. Remaining investors also have likely written down the value on their investment. It’s a bit of a tweak on the expected denouement, but do not bet on Theranos and Ms. Holmes rising like phoenixes from the ashes of their Edison lab equipment.

Updated: Theranos’ last words on their website tout their accepted/presented publications and posters, but there is no further word on Theranos’ actual sale of Zika virus detection technology or the much-touted miniLab. It’s all a far cry from the palmy days three years ago of co-marketing with Walgreens and Ms. Holmes headlining Forbes, Fortune, and dozens of healthcare conferences and accumulating nearly a billion in funding as The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread.

Prediction for 2018: Ms. Holmes will be removed and replaced, then the company will be reorganized and/or renamed.

Full WSJ article on Yahoo! Finance. CNBC. Gizmodo. Our prior chapters on the Theranos Story are here.