GoKawiilWIRED editor reflects on magazine's 2014 Theranos coverage and Holmes' media rise
A former WIRED editor recounts how Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos secured favorable coverage across major outlets, starting with a 2013 Wall Street Journal opinion piece and followed by WIRED's own 2014 Q&A profile, plus features in Fortune, The New Yorker, and Inc. The piece traces how Holmes was repeatedly framed as the 'next Steve Jobs' before Theranos was later exposed as fraudulent.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The retrospective suggests that journalists, including at WIRED, may have been swayed by the prevailing mid-2010s narrative of Silicon Valley disruption, which made Theranos' claims seem plausible without sufficient scrutiny. This account could serve as a cautionary reflection on how media enthusiasm for tech founders and 'visionary' narratives can outpace rigorous verification of claims.
- Holmes received largely uncritical coverage starting with a 2013 WSJ opinion piece and continuing through major outlets like WIRED, Fortune, The New Yorker, and Inc.
- Prominent figures like George Shultz publicly compared Holmes to Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, lending credibility to her claims.
- A former WIRED editor's firsthand account highlights how the era's enthusiasm for tech disruption shaped favorable media narratives around Theranos before its fraud was revealed.
Source: wired.com — Adam Rogers, 2026-10-19
Published there as: “How Elizabeth Holmes Tricked WIRED—and Everyone Else”
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