Gushing texts between Elizabeth Holmes and COO ex-boyfriend revealed amid abuse claims

Fawning text messages between Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced founder of blood-testing startup Theranos, and her ex-boyfriend and former business partner have been revealed — after the alleged fraudster accused him of psychological abuse.

“You are breeze in desert for me,” read one message to her then-boyfriend and Theranos COO Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani back in May 2015. 

“My water. And Ocean,” the texts continued.

The text messages were released by prosecutors in her trial Tuesday.

Other passionate texts read, “Madly in love with you and your strength” and “Feel like the luckiest person in world BC I have you.”

The exchanges happened just as Holmes was facing questions from the Wall Street Journal, which was preparing an explosive story alleging that Theranos was overstating the capabilities of its technology.

Prosecutors released the text messages as they prepared opening statements for Holmes’ fraud trial, which began on Wednesday. Filings unsealed last week and Holmes’ attorneys opening statement suggest she will try to defend her innocence by pinning the blame for the multi-billion dollar scam all on Balwani.

Holmes could be sent to jail for 20 years if she’s found guilty.

Balwani, who also faces federal fraud charges, will be tried separately.

In their opening statement, Holmes’ defense team painted her as an innocent businesswoman whose company failed, and they reminded the jury that she did not run Theranos alone.

In filings unsealed last week, Holmes’ attorneys claimed she suffered a “decade-long campaign of psychological abuse” at the hands of Balwani, setting the stage for Holmes to accuse him of masterminding the fraud when she takes the stand.

In his opening statement, Holmes’ attorney, Lance Wade, told the jury that she was recruiting “the best businessman she knew” when she hired Balwani, but now realizes it was a mistake.

“You will learn that Mr. Balwani did not take well to people who disagreed with him,” Wade said.

Balwani oversaw Theranos’ lab, which the government says provided false and misleading results of blood tests that endangered some people’s lives and inflicted harm on many, Wade noted in his remarks.

“If what government is trying to show is that Theranos’ clinical lab was not well run from 2013 to 2016, we will likely agree with what they have to say,” Wade said. “Poor operations in the lab was one of Theranos’ biggest failures, but it wasn’t fraud.”

In the filings that were unsealed over the weekend, Holmes’ attorneys hammered Balwani, as they likely will throughout the trial, saying that he “controlled what [Holmes] ate, how she dressed, and how much money she could spend, who she could interact with – essentially dominating her and erasing her capacity to make decisions.”

Holmes’ attorneys said in filings that Balwani “controlled what [Holmes] ate, how she dressed, and how much money she could spend, who she could interact with – essentially dominating her and erasing her capacity to make decisions.”

The attorneys added that he also restricted Holmes’ sleep, monitored her movements and insisted “that any success she achieved was because of him.”

The relationship amounted to “intimate partner abuse,” the attorneys wrote, adding that “Holmes is likely to testify herself to the reasons why she believed, relied on and deferred to Mr. Balwani.”

In their opening statements on Wednesday, prosecutors said Holmes lied and cheated her way to fortune and fame as she duped investors and patients alike.

“This is a case about fraud — about lying and cheating to get money,” Robert Leach, a member of the prosecution team, told jurors at the start of his opening statement.

“The scheme brought her fame, it brought her honor and it brought her adoration,” Leach added.

“She had become, as she sought, one of the most celebrated CEOs in Silicon Valley and the world,” Leach said. “But under the facade of Theranos’ success there were significant problems brewing.”

Both Holmes and Balwani have pleaded not guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 10 counts of wire fraud.