Elizabeth Holmes’s Husband Billy Evans Asked The Court For A Lighter Sentence

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Elizabeth Holmes, founder of now-defunct health tech corporation Theranos, will leave behind her husband and two small children as she prepares to go to prison for 11 years on four charges of fraud and deceiving investors.

ICYMI, the 39-year-old ex-CEO is reporting to prison on May 30—and is married to 30-year-old hospitality heir William "Billy" Evans, per Vanity Fair. A recent profile on Elizabeth Holmes by The New York Times sheds light on their relationship and family life for the first time in years.

Apparently, Evans was smitten with Holmes for a while before they actually got married, according to his former coworkers. And he's stuck by Holmes' side throughout her lengthy trial and the birth of their two children.

Here's everything to know about Holmes' husband and their two kids together:

How did Elizabeth meet her husband?

Evans and Holmes met at a Fleet Week house party to benefit wounded warriors back in 2017 and really hit things off, talking for three hours, per The New York Times. He was 25 at the time and living with roommates. "To say we immediately fell in love isn’t an overstatement," he told the outlet.

The couple says that the bad press around Elizabeth actually helped deepen their relationship. “You get to know someone in a totally different way when you walk in with that skepticism versus if you meet when everything is sunshine and roses,” Elizabeth told The New York Times. “That allowed us to get to know each other in a really deep way.”

Billy developed a totally different view of her. “Days later, I was hanging out with Billy and he said, ‘You won’t believe who I met! She’s not as the articles portray her to be,” a former colleague told the New York Post.

Then, in August 2018, the duo was spotted attending Burning Man just a few days before an email was sent to remaining Theranos employees that announced the company was officially dissolving, the Daily Mail reports.

Evans proposed to her with "his MIT signet ring," which he "always wore ... on his pinky finger,” one of Evans' former colleagues at Luminar Technologies told the New York Post. Now, Holmes wears the ring on a chain around her neck.

“He could snap his fingers and have a triple-A diamond engagement ring instantly if he wanted to. But if you give her some extravagant ring, it could end up owned by the feds if she has to give up her material possessions,” the source explained.

The following year, they packed up and traveled the United States in an R.V., sleeping in parking lots and campgrounds as she worked on her legal defense after her criminal trial date was set, per The New York Times.

Did Billy Evans and Elizabeth Holmes have a wedding?

Yes, but not many details have been shared about it. The couple tied the knot during the summer of 2019. And the wedding was also reportedly held in Silicone Valley, per Elle. When they got married, Holmes was 35 while Evans was 27, per PEOPLE.

Bilton broke the news on an episode of his podcast, Inside the Hive, stating that although he wasn't at the ceremony himself, "I heard that no Theranos people were invited, which is interesting because she's still friendly with some of her Theranos folks."

Evans' family didn't approve at first.

Getting all parties to approve of their relationship wasn't easy for the pair. “His family is like, ‘What the f–k are you doing?’ It’s like he’s been brainwashed," one source shared with The New York Post. “He’s had a lot of people very close to him sit him down and have a talk."

Relatives offered plenty of objections, the insider explained: “‘This could be the biggest mistake you’ll ever make.’ ‘The negativity around her could blow back on you.’ ‘You’ve never encountered anything like this.’ ‘You need to think hard about what you’re doing.’”

But the duo stuck together. “The relationship is opportunistic for the both of them. Elizabeth needs a lot of support in her life right now, and Billy is looking for whatever way he can raise his profile."

Is Billy Evans rich?

He comes from a well-known family—and a wealthy one, too. Evans grew up near San Diego, California, with his parents, Susan and William L. Evans, per The Sun.

Evans' grandparents founded the Evans Hotel Group. Per the company's website, the group is the "premier provider of resort accommodations" in Southern California, primarily the San Diego area, and has been around since 1953. Those resorts include the Catamaran Resort Hotel and Spa, The Lodge at Torrey Pines, and the Bahia Resort Hotel. His parents now run the business, according to Business Insider.

Evans also inherited Evans Garage from his father, a private event space and museum containing vintage cars (some from the 1800s), NPR reported.

Bilton explained on his podcast that Evans' money may or may not have something to do with his marriage to Holmes. "[Holmes] doesn't have any money... he [Billy Evans] is a trust fund baby and has a lot of money, and he is probably helping out with the legal bills because Elizabeth's family doesn't have money either," he said.

And, while Holmes said she owes a lot of money in legal fees at this point, she said that Evans' family isn't paying any of them, per The New York Times.

What does Billy Evans do for a living?

Evans' first attempt at starting a business didn't last long. He studied abroad in Shanghai, China at Fudan University on a full scholarship, based on his LinkedIn, taking classes in Chinese language and literature.

He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) from 2010 to 2015 and graduated with a bachelor's in economics. After, Evans tried to create a company that offered shuttle services to the U.S. for the Chinese elite to receive medical care. But he wasn't fluent enough in the language to get the project off the ground, one source said.

“He always was very independent,” one of Evans' college friends told The New York Post. “He doesn’t really care about what the rest of the pack or group or team thinks.”

Next, Evans worked at LinkedIn as a strategy and analytics leadership program analyst, then as a special projects manager at Luminar Technologies, a company focused on creating and developing a market for driverless cars. (According to his LinkedIn, which is the only form of social media that is not private, he stopped working there in Jan. 2019.)

Currently, he says he is doing “a lot of different stuff, investing, starting companies,” when asked by The New York Times.

They have a son and daughter together.

Before Evans and Holmes had their son, named William Holmes Evans, Bilton saw her pregnancy coming: "Holmes is going to get pregnant before she gets on the stand because she will look very sympathetic as a pregnant woman on the stand," he said, per Elle.

And he was right. In March 2021, Holmes revealed to the court she was expecting, and the proceedings were pushed back for a fourth time. They were already delayed three times due to COVID-19, per US Weekly.

The couple welcomed their first child together on July 10, 2021, in Redwood City, California, per ABC News.

Then, Holmes appeared visibly pregnant again when she showed up in court for her sentencing in November of 2022. Those following the trial closely believe that if she's expecting again, that could have led to a shorter sentence.

“I think she is hoping to get a lighter sentence,” Anne Kopf-Sill, a former biotech professional who attended Holmes’ trial told KRON4. “Everyone feels sorry for children that have to grow up without both parents. Even though they may be unsympathetic to Elizabeth…there still is feeling for doing something for innocent children.”

Their daughter, Invicta, was born in February of 2023, per The New York Times.

Evans stood by his wife's side during the Theranos trial.

Holmes was on trial for 12 counts of fraud in San Jose, California, per ABC News, and was found guilty on four of those charges. She faced up to 20 years in prison and a whopping $250,000 fine, plus additional restitution money that would go to the investors she lied to, per CNN.

"The fact that she [Holmes] is a young, new mother is going to play into any potential sentence," said Caroline Polisi, a federal criminal defense attorney, on The Dropout: Elizabeth Holmes on Trial podcast.

Holmes originally pleaded not guilty (along with her ex-boyfriend and former Theranos COO, Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani) to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and nine counts of wire fraud.

But he also asked the court to give her a lighter sentence. "My heart is broken with the thought of spending any days away from Liz, for a future in which my son grows up with a relationship with his mother on the other side of glass armed by guards," he said, per PEOPLE.

In April 2023, her request to stay out of prison while appealing her conviction was denied by a judge, Business Insider reported. However, she later appealed that judge's decision, delaying her prison reporting date. She's now ordered to report to prison May 30 and to pay $452 million in restitution with Balwani to the Theranos fraud victims, the outlet wrote.

He was portrayed in Hulu's The Dropout.

In Hulu's The Dropout, Evans is played by Garrett Coffey, who was in Battle For Skyark in 2015. Meanwhile, Holmes was portrayed by Amanda Seyfried.

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