Alex Gibney says what shocked him the most while making 'The Inventor,' which delves into the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes' Theranos.
As Holmes became a self-made billionaire on paper — thanks to the perception of what Theranos could become — she was able to enlist the talents of a heavyweight lawyer to watch her back. That lawyer was David Boies, who was also a Theranos board member. Gibney said when Boies was in the picture at the company it was very difficult for anyone who was involved there to agree to talk for the movie.
"They were afraid that he was going to sue them into oblivion," Gibney said."That was really hard for somebody who is trying to understand what happened inside a company." The movie shows just how intimidating Boies' tactics were. One scene looks back on the five-hour meeting Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou had with Theranos executive Daniel Young, who at the meeting was flanked by Boies and Theranos' general counsel, Heather King. We hear the recording Carreyrou took of the interview as both sides go back and forth about sourcing and accusations of Carreyrou wanting trade secrets.
Gibney said things finally got easier when it became clear Theranos was on the ropes and didn't have the resources to take anyone to court who spoke out. "Despite the good that people could do by coming forward, they were so terrified that their lives would be destroyed by a lawyer that they kept silent," Gibney said."That was really interesting to me."
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