Sigh, the NYT author seems fully aware that she's being charmed/conned and does inform the reader so (this piece on Verge also interprets the NYT piece that way:
https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/07/elizabeth-holmes-left-to-h... / HN discussion:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35887265 ).
Is it a case of the Motley Fool writer being illiterate, or does have everything have to be spelled out like everyone's in 5th grade?