Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes owes a debt of about $25 million to her embattled company, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal in an article published on Wednesday.

The company struck an arrangement with Holmes to pay later when she chose to exercise options to buy more stock, the Journal reported. She has never sold any shares, and didn't get company cash from the agreement, the Journal said.

The blood-testing start-up has the power to absolve her from the debt, according to the Journal.

Once a highly valued company, Theranos has come under intense watch in recent years. The company is entangled in a complex web of lawsuits - and Holmes has proposed giving away her personal shares to investors who agree not to sue, according to an earlier Journal report.

To read the full story, see the article at WSJ.com.