Theranos plans to offer investors shares in the company in exchange for them not filing lawsuits against the embattled blood-testing company. WSJ's Christopher Weaver has exclusive details on Lunch Break. Photo: Reuters 
 
 Theranos Inc. plans to give additional shares to investors who pledge not to sue the battered blood-testing company or Elizabeth Holmes, its founder and chief executive, people familiar with the matter said. 
 
 The deal includes investors who participated in Theranos’s latest funding rounds, which ended in 2015 and brought in more than $600 million. Those investors could get about two additional shares for each share they bought, one of the people said. 
 
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 The Wall Street Journal has yet another essential report from inside the meltdown of biomedical company Theranos. The company, which is currently the subject of a criminal probe for allegedly misleading investigators and government investigators, is reportedly offering investors more shares in exchange for a promise not to sue them. 
 
 
 
 The Theranos disaster-saga began after a series of damming WSJ reports revealed that the company was fudging testing results from its flagship blood testing device. The company is currently being sued by Walgreens, its investor and one of its biggest partners. Walgreens actually had Theranos testing devices in its stores before the controversy broke. CEO Elizabeth Holmes was also banned from operating a lab for two years, and the company ended up shuttering its lab in Arizona. 
 
 Theranos’ plan to pay off potential plaintiffs with “about two additional shares for each share they bought” was approved by the company’s board in February, the Journal reports. The stock itself would come from Holmes’s personal shares, a stake Forbes analysts marked down from an estimated $4.5 billion to “essentially worth nothing” last June. 
 
 “This is an affirmative development for the company, providing a path forward in partnership with employees, investors and other stakeholders,” said Daniel Warmenhoven, director Theranos, according to the Journal. “Elizabeth elected to contribute her own equity to protect any dilution of shares held by other parties.” 
 
 Previously, Holmes had almost complete control over the company she started in 2003, so much so that the board of directors didn’t have the power to remove her. Investors still have to approve the newly reported pay off, but if they do, it’ll be interesting to see what happens to Holmes after she gives up the power she once held so closely. 
 
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 [The Wall Street Journal] 

 One way Theranos is hoping to stay afloat is by offering double the shares — including some of founder Elizabeth Holmes’ own shares — to investors if they promise not to sue. 
 
 Theranos is knee-deep in an avalanche of lawsuits from investors and consumers of its blood-testing products after it was discovered the tests had an accuracy problem and didn’t meet with the company’s own standards. Its main partner, Walgreens, has since pulled out and is also suing the company. 
 
 According to The Wall Street Journal, Theranos’ board approved a move in February to shuffle shares, including from founder Elizabeth Holmes, to investors as a way to appease them. 
 
 The deal would include those investors in Theranos’ latest funding round in 2015, which yielded $600 million. But those investors, which may include later-stage investors, including BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners, Continental Properties Co., Esoom (Enterprise of Taiwan), Jupiter Partners, Palmieri Trust, Dixon Doll, Ray Bingham and B.J. Cassin, would now get twice the shares for each share they bought in that round, according to the Journal and confirmed by Theranos. 
 
 “This is an affirmative development for the company, providing a path forward in partnership with employees, investors and other stakeholders,” Theranos director Daniel J. Warmenhoven said in a statement to TechCrunch. “Elizabeth elected to contribute her own equity to protect any dilution of shares held by other parties. In my experience, this is a uniquely structured deal that not only demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of our operating environment but shows a level of selflessness and grace reflecting her commitment to the company’s success.” 
 
 It’s not clear how many shares Holmes is offering up herself, but at least a couple of investors aren’t taking the deal. Theranos has reached a separate agreement with Rupert Murdoch, the executive chairman of News Corp and 21st Century Fox Inc., who refused to agree to the same deal as other investors — possibly for tax reasons. Theranos will instead buy back his shares for $1, according to the Journal’s sources. 
 
 Another investor, San Francisco-based hedge fund Partner Fund Management LP, which sued Theranos in October and participated in the $198 Series C round attributed to have driven Theranos to its former $9 billion valuation, also refused the agreement.
– The founder of troubled blood-testing firm Theranos is giving up some of her stake in the company in a bid to prevent yet more lawsuits, reports the Wall Street Journal. Elizabeth Holmes is offering investors up to two extra shares for every one they own in return for a promise not to sue the company. Theranos already is being sued by former partner Walgreens, among others, after previous reporting by the Journal called into question the legitimacy of its blood tests. The unusual offer came after months of talks with leading investors, who put more than $600 million into the company in a funding round in 2015. The deal provides "a path forward in partnership with employees, investors, and other stakeholders," Theranos director Daniel J. Warmenhoven said in a statement to TechCrunch. Warmenhoven said Holmes' decision to contribute her own shares in the "uniquely structured deal" shows "a level of selflessness and grace reflecting her commitment to the company's success." It's not clear how many shares Holmes herself is giving up, but Gizmodo thinks "it’ll be interesting to see what happens to Holmes after she gives up the power she once held so closely." The Journal says high-profile Theranos investor Rupert Murdoch reached a separate deal: He agreed to sell the shares he paid $125 million for in 2015 back to the company for as little as $1 in a move that allows him to claim an investment loss for tax purposes. (After two huge rounds of layoffs, Theranos is focusing on a new device.)