Elizabeth and Sunny are incredibly corrupt and dishonest people. They simply saw and easy mark in this guy and tried to fleece him. I mean, they've already fleeced millions from investors, whats another con job for them?

The work environment was incredibly toxic as well:

For example, Balwani took it upon himself to keep track of how long employees were working. In one encounter, Balwani brought up security footage that showed a software engineer only working an eight-hour day. He told the employee, "I'm going to fix you." The engineer promptly resigned and left the building, even as Balwani sent a security officer to try and stop him. Balwani then called the cops on the employee.

http://www.businessinsider.com/theranos-former-president-sun...