Elizabeth Holmes success story was what every self-made entrepreneur's dream. In fact, Forbes welcomed her to its list of America's Richest Self-Made Women. With $4.5 billion, she topped the list. However, Forbes otherwise thought she wasn't a billionaire anyway.  The business magazine eventually downgraded estimates of her fortune to virtually nothing.

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Theranos has yet made any comment.

"Our estimate of Holmes' wealth is based entirely on her 50% stake in Theranos, the blood-testing company she founded in 2003 with plans of revolutionizing the diagnostic test market," Forbes staff Matthew Harper explained.

Shares of Theranos are not traded on any stock market and the company's valuation is solely based on private investors. In 2014, the market value of Theranos was pegged at $9 billion. Howevever, Theranos is now facing accusations that its tests are inexact. The company is now facing investigations from federal agencies. Furthermoer, Forbes obtained information that Theranos' annual revenues fall below the $100 million margin, thus, lowering Theranos' value.

After speaking to several venture capitalists, analysts and industry experts Forbes conclude that Theranos is only worth $800 million, and not $9 billion. The company is credited for its intellectual property plus the $724 million capital that it raised.

With that, Holmes' stake at the company doesn't come anywhere near the billion dollar mark. In fact, Forbes believes she is "essentially worth nothing" since "investors own preferred shares," while Holmes owns only the common stock.

"Investors in Theranos own a particular kind of preferred equity, called participating preferred shares, which take precedence to common stock in the event of a liquidation," experts at VC Experts explained. In short, preferred investors would get paid first before common shareholders like Holmes cent.

So what's really behind the demise of Holmes' stake in Theranos?  Forbes has three explanations: too much is unknown, Theranos failed to provide any data regarding the tests it's been doing, and the company has no target market .  

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