Family and friends of a wealthy San Diego hotel heir are concerned that his upcoming wedding to Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes might be the result of her 'brainwashing' him.

Holmes could be facing as many as 20 years in prison for lying to investors, patients and doctors and defrauding her backers of more than $700 million by founding Theranos under the lie that her company had developed the technology to run tests for dozens of diseases using a single pinprick of blood. Holmes is considered "one of the biggest scam artists of her generation", according to the New York Post. But the two are moving ahead with the wedding later this year, leaving his wealthy family baffled, and many of his peers in the San Francisco tech scene fortunate enough to score an invite debating whether it would be ethical to attend.

Evans, who is 6-foot-4 and played volleyball at MIT, where he majored in math and economics, has, according to his friends, in the past mostly dated women who fit a very specific type.

Before Holmes, the 6-foot-4 Evans was a playboy with a mission. "I met two of his ex-girlfriends. They were both Instagram models, and he was super proud of that fact," the colleague said. "He would date young, absolutely drop-dead-gorgeous girls [with big followings]."

He was also 'obsessed' with growing his social media following. But since getting together with Holmes, whom he first met at a party in 2017, he has shut down his accounts.

Many were alarmed when Evans, who has been spotted traipsing around SF's Marina District with Holmes and her infamous Siberian Husky 'wolf dog' Balto, gifted his MIT signet ring to Holmes, instead of buying her an expensive engagement ring. The two were even spotted together last year at Burning Man.

"He gave her his MIT signet ring," said the colleague, who worked with Evans at Luminar Technologies, a Palo Alto, Calif., firm that produces sensors for self-driving cars. "Billy and the MIT ring, they are inseparable. He always wore it on his pinky finger." "He could snap his fingers and have a triple-A diamond engagement ring instantly if he wanted to. But if you give her some extravagant ring, it could end up owned by the feds if she has to give up her material possessions."

News of Holmes' engagement to the hotel heir elicited groans across social media. Even the comedians at the New Yorker couldn't resist the temptation to crack a few jokes, in a piece titled "Elizabeth Holmes' Wedding Vows".

And now here we are, in the abandoned Theranos lab, where so much magic happened in the past fifteen years - blood stains covering the floor, the words “Elizabeth Holmes is the devil” spray-painted on a wall. It is wonderful, and I am wonderful, and this is our wonderful wedding ceremony, Billy. We are going to have a hundred children. This is my vow to you. It is scientifically possible - you can make a child, from a drop of blood, within two weeks. That’s a fact. The child will gestate in a new machine I created called the Babbage, named after the great Charles Babbage, who invented the first mechanical computer. The Babbage, or the Babby, as America will come to call it, is a mini fridge in the shape of a black turtleneck. You can find them at any Walgreens women’s bathroom. Simply remove a needle located in a small pocket on the left sleeve of the turtleneck, prick yourself, and squeeze a drop of blood into the open neck hole. Do not forget to type your name into the keyboard taped to the front of the turtleneck! That is the only way to insure that your Babby Baby will be sent to you.

Evans' family is understandably less-than-pleased about the pairing, and many of his relatives have questioned his decision to marry Holmes, but to no avail. Then again, some of his friends pointed out in interviews with the Post that the pairing could be symbiotic, in at least one sense.

“His family is like, ‘What the f–k are you doing?’ It’s like he’s been brainwashed. [He says,] ‘The media has it all wrong about her,’” said one San Francisco techie. “He’s had a lot people very close to him sit him down and have a talk,” the colleague said, before cataloging the litany of warnings given to Evans. “’This could be the biggest mistake you’ll ever make.’ ‘The negativity around her could blow back on you.’ ‘You’ve never encountered anything like this.’ ‘You need to think hard about what you’re doing.’” Still, the couple is undeterred. “It’s kind of like Billy is her shiny new toy. She’s super enthusiastic about being with him,” the colleague said. “The relationship is opportunistic for the both of them. Elizabeth needs a lot of support in her life right now, and Billy is looking for whatever way he can raise his profile.”

Others said they didn't buy the theory that Evans had been 'brainwashed', saying that he's the guy who usually does the brainwashing, not the other way around. It's also possible that the national fascination with scam artists like Holmes - there have been successful books, documentaries and true-crime podcast series produced about her - could be a factor in their pairing.

In either case, with Holmes very likely facing a lengthy stretch of imprisonment for her crimes. We'll see if their relationship can survive the distance. Or, as the New Yorker joked, whether Holmes might eventually move on to be with the 'other Billy' - the true man of her dreams - Fyre Festival organizer Billy McFarland.