He was born in Pakistan in 1965 and immigrated to the US as a youngster. He worked as a software engineer at Microsoft after completing his studies in computer science at the University of Texas at Austin. He first met Holmes in 2002, while she was a Stanford University student. Once they started dating, Balwani became president and chief operating officer of Theranos in 2009. He contributed significantly to the company's early development and to the investment of billions of dollars. He was also charged with managing a culture of intimidation and secrecy at Theranos, though. Together with Holmes, he was accused of fraud in 2018. In 2022, he was found guilty and given a 12-year prison term.
