Outcome Health
Outcome Health is a Chicago-based healthcare technology company founded by Rishi Shah. Its registered name is ContextMedia Health LLC.[1] It is majority owned by Littlejohn & Co., a private equity firm.[2] After its founders were indicted by a federal grand jury on multiple charges of fraud and also sued by the SEC, veteran tech investor Howard A. Tullman called Outcome "our version of Theranos."[3]
History
In May 2017, a funding round with Goldman Sachs, CapitalG, Pritzker Group, and others invested $600 million in Outcome Health, giving it a $5.6 billion valuation.[4] This is the largest single funding round in Chicago since Groupon in 2011, when it raised $950 million in its fifth funding round.[5]
According to a report in The Wall Street Journal unnamed former employees and advertisers accused the company of overcharging their customers for advertisements and misquoting third-party analyses and falsifying documents on the ads' performance. According to the accusations, Outcome Health reported that the ads appeared on more video screens than they had installed.[1][6] Lanny Davis, a company spokesperson, responded by saying a law firm had been hired to "review allegations about certain employees’ conduct that have been raised internally."[1]
In November 2017, CEO Vivek Kundra left the company.[7] Also in November, several advertisers stopped working with Outcome Health and investors sued the company claiming fraud and breach of contract.[8][9]
As of January 2018, Outcome Health decided to settle outstanding investor lawsuits in exchange for having Shah and Agarwal step down.[10]
In June 2018, Matt McNally, former chief media officer at Publicis Health, was announced as the company's new CEO.[11]
On November 25, 2019, four former executives were indicted[12] for falsifying ad performance statements to secure bank loans of nearly $1 Billion. Additionally, former CEO Rishi Shah and former President Shradha Agarwal were charged with mail, wire and bank fraud.[13] Shah and Agarwal face up to 30 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charges.
References
- Winkler, Rolfe (October 12, 2017). "Outcome, a Hot Tech Startup, Misled Advertisers With Manipulated Information, Sources Say". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
- Company press release
- John Pletz, Crain's Chicago Business, December 2, 2019
- Konrad, Alex. "This 31-Year-Old Is Worth $3B For Bringing Drug Marketing Into Your Doctor's Office". Forbes. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
- "Chicago's newest billionaire, 31-year-old Rishi Shah, is self-made". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
- Lynley, Matthew. "Startups advertising In-office medical advertising startup Outcome Health reportedly misled advertisers". Tech Crunch. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
- Winkler, Rolfe (2017-11-04). "Outcome Health Loses Operating Chief Vivek Kundra". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
- Winkler, Rolfe; Vranica, Suzanne (2017-11-05). "Drug Advertisers Suspend Deals With Outcome Health". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
- Winkler, Rolfe (2017-11-08). "Investors Sue Ad Startup Outcome Health for Alleged Fraud". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
- Marotti, Ally. "'Uphill battle' predicted for Outcome Health after settlement with investors". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
- Marotti, Ally. "Outcome Health names advertising executive as new CEO". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
- "4 health company executives accused in $1B fraud scheme". ABC News. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
- Sandler, Rachel. "Former Outcome Health Executives Indicted In Billion-Dollar Fraud Scheme". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-08-28.
External links
- "Outcome Health Misled Advertisers With Manipulated Information, Sources Say". WSJ. Retrieved 11 November 2017.