{"id":386,"date":"2018-08-06T14:17:44","date_gmt":"2018-08-06T14:17:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nyadfactcheck.com\/annex\/2018\/08\/06\/liquid-sisters-comparing-the-con-artistry-of-diana-nyad-and-elizabeth-holmes\/"},"modified":"2025-11-10T14:11:06","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T14:11:06","slug":"liquid-sisters-comparing-the-con-artistry-of-diana-nyad-and-elizabeth-holmes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nyadfactcheck.com\/annex\/liquid-sisters-comparing-the-con-artistry-of-diana-nyad-and-elizabeth-holmes\/","title":{"rendered":"Liquid Sisters: Comparing the Con Artistry of Diana Nyad and Elizabeth Holmes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Turns out it takes a bit more than that.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In\u00a0March, the SEC charged Holmes<\/a> with \u201cmassive fraud.\u201d Last month, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California indicted Holmes<\/a> for wire fraud and conspiracy.<\/p>\n

Besides charisma and drive, Holmes and Nyad share other characteristics of accomplished con artists. Here\u2019s one: the ability to convince people of the supposed purity of their motives. Former Secretary of State George Shultz on Holmes:
\n<\/p>\n

Everywhere you look with this young lady, there\u2019s a purity of motivation\u2026. (Bad Blood, p. 207)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Photographer Catherine Opie on Nyad:<\/p>\n

One of the things that has been most incredible to me in terms of\u2026following you through this process is the utter honesty in it. (Diana Nyad & Catherine Opie<\/a>, 34:03)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Retired US Marine Corps General James Mattis, current Secretary of Defense, on Holmes:<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has probably one of the most mature and well-honed sense of ethics\u2014personal ethics, managerial ethics, business ethics, medical ethics that I\u2019ve ever heard articulated,\u201d the retired general gushed. (Bad Blood, p. 207)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Reporter Gio Benitez on Nyad:<\/p>\n

She\u2019s just this brilliant, brilliant person who has reflected so much on, really, the meaning of life\u2026. She did [this swim] for the human spirit\u2026. And I think that\u2019s what\u2019s really fascinating about this: it\u2019s someone who has really, really taken a look at life\u2026at a really deep level. (Diana Nyad Discusses Historic Swim<\/a>, 55:45)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

. . .<\/p>\n

Another con artist trait that Holmes and Nyad share: they are both great at convincing others of their ostensible greatness. One of Holmes\u2019s professors at Stanford, according to Carreyrou, held that\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026Holmes was a once-in-a-generation genius, comparing her to Newton, Einstein, Mozart, and Leonardo da Vinci. (Bad Blood, p. 280)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

According to Michael Shermer<\/a>, founder of The Skeptics Society, Nyad is\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026the greatest long-distance swimmer in the history of the sport.\u00a0(From \u201cJust Keep Swimming<\/a>\u201d\u2014full text here<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

. . .<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Author Virginia Heffernan (of Slate\u2019s inimitable\u00a0TrumpCast<\/a>, among other places) recently wrote about Carreyrou\u2019s book, as well as about other attempts to understand Holmes, for Wired magazine: \u201cElizabeth Holmes\u2019 Downfall Has Been Explained Deeply\u2014By Men<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

To get an unmediated look at Holmes, by men or otherwise, Heffernan went to the source:<\/p>\n

[Holmes] didn\u2019t talk to Carreyrou for his book, understandably\u2026. But she has been giving talks now for a decade. So I watched them all.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thank you, Virginia! That saved me alot of time. Since I\u2019ve watched every Nyad video I could find, we can compare notes.<\/p>\n

Before that happens, though, I want to say one thing about Heffernan\u2019s premise. Men may not be the best gender to explain Holmes. But males\u2014especially politically powerful, aging, white, conservative ones\u2014have some explaining to do nonetheless. Take a look at the Theranos board<\/a>, which Holmes\u00a0engineered, by the way, to have no power over company decisions. Here are the members as of June 12, 2014:<\/p>\n