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Leaked video shows Theranos employees playing the video game they created where you shoot at the reporter who exposed the startup's problems

Elizabeth Holmes
Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes. Getty

  • Theranos, the startup once valued at $9 billion and backed by big names like the venture capitalist Tim Draper, may be liquidated as soon as this summer, according to a letter to investors.
  • Some people inside the company blame John Carreyrou, the Wall Street Journal reporter who revealed that the company was misleading people about its technology.
  • So some employees made a "Space Invaders"-style game in which players shoot little Carreyrou heads.
  • Business Insider obtained a video of Theranos employees playing the game in the company's manufacturing facility.

Theranos, the once high-flying startup that promised to revolutionize blood tests, is on its deathbed and will cease to exist this summer unless it can raise more money, according to a letter to investors.

But some within the company don't blame the technology or its management for the startup's fall — instead, they blame John Carreyrou, the Wall Street Journal reporter who revealed that it was misleading people about its blood-testing technology.

Theranos employees even made a "Space Invaders"-style video game where you shoot at him.

After Business Insider wrote about the existence of the game, someone sent us a video of employees playing it.

"Wow, I got big screen treatment!" Carreyrou said in an email.

Theranos did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The video was taken a while ago and takes place in Theranos' manufacturing building, the person who sent it to Business Insider said.

The video confirms Carreyrou's tweets last week about the video game. A screenshot he included showed that it was titled "Haters Gonna Hate v1.5."

The video indicates that people played the game a lot — just look at the lengthy high score.

Theranos was once worth $9 billion and backed by big names like former Secretary of State George Shultz and the venture capitalist Tim Draper. Its CEO, Elizabeth Holmes, appeared on panels with important people like former President Bill Clinton and Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma.

Theranos promised to revolutionize blood testing by allowing people to get tests from places like Walgreens that required only a drop of blood.

There was just one problem: Its technology didn't work.

Carreyrou wrote a series of revealing stories about the startup starting in 2015, contributing to its troubles raising money — and making him a key enemy of Theranos.

The company enlisted David Boies, a legendary lawyer who tried to intimate and threaten The Journal with legal action, according to a Vanity Fair report. Employees even chanted "F--- you, Carreyrou!" at an all-hands meeting.

"There are many more eye-opening anecdotes and revelations in my book, 'Bad Blood,' which comes out next month," Carreyrou said.

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