Elizabeth Holmes announces brutal layoffs at Theranos following SEC settlement

Theranos CEO and founder Elizabeth Holmes. (credit: NBC Today)

As recently as 2015, the plucky blood-testing company Theranos had about 800 employees. But on Tuesday, that number fell to about two dozen or less, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

Elizabeth Holmes, founder and CEO of the Silicon Valley biotech company, announced the third brutal round of layoffs today in an all-hands meeting at the company's Newark, California, office. The carnage claimed at least 80 percent of the company's approximately 125-employee workforce that had remained until now.

According to people familiar with the matter, the move is intended to save desperately needed cash and avert-or at least delay-bankruptcy. Though the company was once valued at $9 billion, it has seen its value plummet and funds dwindle after revelations that its highly touted blood-testing technology was faulty and company leaders misled partners, regulators, customers, and investors.

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