Notorious Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, once celebrated as the first female self-made billionaire, broke her silence in her first interview from a federal prison in Texas. 

Holmes was sentenced to 11 years in prison in November 2022 for fraud and conspiracy and ordered to pay $452 million in restitution to investors for scamming investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars by lying to raise money for her blood-testing startup Theranos. She began her sentence on May 30, 2023. 

“The people I love the most have to walk away as I stand here, a prisoner, and my reality sinks in,” the 41-year-old mother said in an interview with People, detailing her experience behind bars.

Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes, alongside her boyfriend Billy Evans, leaves a hearing at the Robert E. Peckham U.S. Courthouse on March 17, 2023 in San Jose, California. (Pacheco/Getty Images)

Holmes said her reason for doing the interview was to advocate on behalf of incarcerated persons and inmates separated from their children. 

Behind bars, she works as a reentry clerk, aiding women set to be released to prepare for their freedom, and she teaches French classes. She also maintains a mostly vegan diet but began eating fish after becoming anemic during her first year in prison, she told People. 

Holmes is scheduled for release on April 3, 2032, and she said she plans to continue her healthcare technology career upon her freedom.

“There is not a day I have not continued to work on my research and inventions,” she said. “I remain completely committed to my dream of making affordable healthcare solutions available to everyone.”