Theranos chief battles Wall Street Journal over article

Elizabeth Holmes went toe to toe with The Journal and says the publication got its facts wrong about her company.

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Ragan Insider Content

After this week in reputation management, it may be time to “verb” another noun: Amazon.

To use it in a sentence:

Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes “Amazoned” The Wall Street Journal this week when she pushed back against claims it made against her company in a recent article.

What Amazon took 64 days to do, Holmes did much faster and in bolder fashion. Maybe the noun to “verb” should be Theranos. The Oxford English Dictionary editors can decide.

The Journal article, published Oct. 15, described a company struggling to turn its technology into reality. Theranos posted a response on its website the same day. Holmes went on “Mad Money with Jim Cramer” the following day and defended her company.

Holmes responded to the negative coverage in textbook reputation management fashion. Here are two key reputation management moves that Holmes executed correctly:

1. Respond quickly, candidly and decisively.

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