Exclusive | California home where top Theranos scientist died by suicide quietly sells for $5M

A Silicon Valley home tied to one of the darkest chapters of the Theranos scandal has changed hands.Rochelle Gibbons, widow of Theranos chief scientist Ian Gibbons, sold the couple’s longtime ranch in Portola Valley, Calif., for $5 million in May 2025 — a deal that slipped by largely unnoticed.It’s the same house where the British biochemist died by suicide in 2013, as he faced mounting pressure to testify about the startup’s technology.They had purchased the three bedroom, 3.5 bathroom home for just $785,000 back in 1990, property records obtained by The Post show.

Buyers didn’t hesitate.The property at 831 La Mesa Drive came to market on April 21 with a $4.65 million price tag, landed a buyer within 10 days and closed on May 19 for $5 million, a cool $350,000 over ask.Rochelle had spent a few years renovating the property before putting it on the market.The single-story spread spans 3,074 square feet on a lot of roughly a quarter acre in the leafy Ladera enclave.

A top-to-bottom overhaul delivered heated concrete floors, a chef’s kitchen anchored by an oversized island and a walk-in pantry, and walls of glass that pour in sunshine.Two secondary bedrooms share a Jack-and-Jill bath, while a flex room could serve as a den, an office or extra sleeping space.

Out back, there’s a pool ringed by mature greenery.The backstory is far more grim than the brochure.Gibbons, a Cambridge-educated scientist with more than 60 US patents to his credit, was hired in 2005 as Elizabeth Holmes’ first seasoned scientific recruit.He’d come recommended by Theranos board member Channing Robertson, for whom he had done consulting work.It didn’t take long for the cracks to show.

The miniature finger-prick machines Holmes was hyping to investors simply didn’t deliver, and Gibbons confided as much at home.He “told me nothing was working,” Rochelle once told the Wall Street Journal.Already battling cancer, he felt trapped.“Ian felt like he would lose his job if...