Park City • Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney has always been interested in the psychology of fraud and self-deception. So when HBO CEO Richard Plepler and Graydon Carter proposed that he look into the blood-testing startup Theranos and its charismatic young leader Elizabeth Holmes, saying yes was a “no-brainer.”
Theranos had promised that it would revolutionize health care with cost transparency and blood-testing technology that would require less blood. Sporting black turtlenecks, and Stanford-dropout bragging rights, Holmes was touted as the "next Steve Jobs" and Theranos was at one point valued at over $9 billion.