It’s a nine-bedroom English country manor-esque property, sitting on a 30-hectare estate, with four pools adorning the grounds, a tennis court, flower and vegetable garden, and reservoir just for residents. It was built in 1911 and also has deer on the property.
Holmes also kept renting a luxury flat in San Francisco for US$5,000 a month, even after Theranos officially shut down in 2018, The flat was in the famous Lombard Street in San Francisco, and near “crookedest street in the world”.
Holmes flew first class across America, was chauffeured to a breeder and bought a nine-week-old puppy she called Balto. For work, she and Balto were often picked up by her driver, and sometimes her security guards and personal assistants would be present.
According to Vanity Fair she had two drivers, two security guards and two assistants. She was driven everywhere and always had an assistant on hand to handle requests 24/7. She also had a personal publicist who was on a retainer for US$25,000 per month. In the end, many of her guards and assistants turned into dog walkers for Balto.
Holmes preferred to get around country by private jet, whether for business or leisure. Vanity Fair reports she insisted on flying solo since the early days of the company. When Theranos’ finances started showing signs of trouble, she agreed to a downgrade and flew first class on commercial flights instead.
Vanity Fair reports that Theranos’ company’s headquarters in Palo Alto cost a whopping US$1 million a month to rent. While decorating the building she was rumoured to have spent US$100,000 on a conference table. One of the boardrooms apparently had screens that could come out the ceiling so that staff did not need to move to view a presentation. What was being presented is less clear.