different times using different exits. They were also careful never to
return at the same time or together. Ted Pasco, who had left a career
on Wall Street to try his luck in Silicon Valley but didn’t have any clear
duties during his first few months at Theranos, amused himself by
timing their exits and entries.
Several members of the Frat Pack joined Greg and two of his
colleagues from the engineering department for lunch on the big
terrace overlooking the parking lot one day. A discussion about the low
IQs of some of the world’s top soccer players led them to debate the
question, Would you rather be smart and poor or dumb and rich? The
three engineers all chose smart and poor, while the Frat Pack voted
unanimously for dumb and rich. Greg was struck by how clearly the
line was drawn between the two groups. They were all in their mid- to
late twenties with good educations, but they valued different things.
Christian and his friends were always ready and willing to do
Elizabeth and Sunny’s bidding. Their eagerness to please was on
display when news broke that Steve Jobs had died on the evening of
October 5, 2011. Elizabeth and Sunny wanted to pay Jobs a tribute by
flying an Apple flag at half-mast on the grounds of the Hillview Avenue
building. The next morning, Jeff Blickman, a tall redhead who’d
played varsity baseball at Duke, volunteered for the mission. He
couldn’t locate any suitable Apple flag for sale, so Blickman had one
custom made out of vinyl. It featured the famous Apple logo in white
against a black background. The store he went to took a while to make
it. Blickman didn’t return with it until late in the day. In the meantime,
work at the company came to a standstill as Elizabeth and Sunny
moped around the office, consumed by the hunt for the Apple flag.
Greg had been aware of Elizabeth’s fascination with Jobs. She
referred to him as “Steve” as if they were close friends. At one point,
she’d told him that a documentary espousing a 9/11 conspiracy theory
wouldn’t have been available on iTunes if “Steve” hadn’t believed there
was something to it. Greg thought that was silly. He was pretty sure
Jobs hadn’t personally screened all the movies for rent or sale on
iTunes. Elizabeth seemed to have this exaggerated image of him as an
all-seeing and all-knowing being.