Genetic examination fellowship 23andMehas lodge for bankruptcyafter its board rejected a bid from its CEO to take it private . Four year ago the genetic examination company was valued at $ 3.5 billion . Now it ’ll be favorable if someone pays $ 50 million for it . If you have n’t done it yet , there ’s never been a better time todelete your 23andMe data .
The company charge for bankruptcy on Sunday after workweek of a collapsing stock price and multiple stillborn bids to buy the company and take it private from co - laminitis and former CEO Anne Wojcicki . Its circuit card did not require Wojcick and found her bid wanting . Reuters said her last pitch was 41 cents a share to take the companionship private , which would have measure the company at just $ 11 million . She relinquish as CEO after this bid neglect .
In 2021 , Forbes declared Wojcicki America ’s new “ self made billionaire ” after she cut a spate with Richard Branson to launch the 23andMe IPO . Now she ’s posting through the collapse of her company on X.com and seek to find a way back into the business she depart . “ I have resign as chief executive officer of the ship’s company so I can be in the best spot to go after the society as an independent bidder , ” she said in a long position on X.
Anne Wojcicki (R), founder and CEO of 23andMe, and Marcus Wallenberg speak at an event during Prince Daniel’s Fellowship entrepreneurial journey on 6 May 2025 in San Francisco, California.© Photo by Kimberly White/Getty Images
“ What made so many of our creation possible were the 85 % of our client who choose in to research . Thanks to them they have invest an incredible platform for discovery , ” Wojcicki say . “ 23andMe was not a good steward of that information , ” Wojcicki articulate in her post .
Which is true . Under Wojcicki ’s term of office , 23andMe were bad shop steward of people ’s data . The company launched in 2006 and became a sensation after Oprah added one of its familial examination kits to her leaning of “ favorite thing . ” The lurch was simple : 23andMe would take a swob of your information and tell you about your genetics , let in your leaning towards certain disease and possible ancestors . 23andMe ’s fortunes soured in 2023 after a drudge go against its servers and expose the genetic information of 6.9 million client .
The ship’s company did n’t handle it well . First it said that only 14,000 hoi polloi had been exposed before it copped to the much large routine . Then it changed its terms of table service on the sly in an attempt to knock down raging customer into a aggregate arbitration cognitive process . In the end it agreed to pay a $ 30 million settlement and pick the bill for credit monitoring of the millions of people it give away .
“ Our creation was the faith and respect of our customers , and they were always the guiding light on how we made decisions , ” Wojcicki say in her post on X Monday aurora . The data rupture erode that trust . The foundation was ruined . Throughout 2023 and 2024 , 23andMe ’s blood toll topple and at the ending of 2024 it place off 200 employees . The layoffs deepened concerns that it could keep people ’s hereditary info secure and that it had a path of making money at all .
One of Wojcicki ’s proposed root to turning the company around was bullyrag user into allowing their familial datum to be used for scientific research . “ We now have the ability to mine the dataset for ourselves , as well as to partner with other groups,”the former chief executive officer told Wired in 2024 . It was aprofound misreadingof the moment .
“ We have had many achiever but I evenly take accountability for the challenge we have today , ” Wojcicki enounce on X after she relinquish . “ There is no dubiety that the challenges faced by 23andMe through an germinate business model have been real , but my belief in the companionship and its future is unwavering . Consumers are rising up and asking for more control over their health and want greater noesis about how to be healthy and why they may have wellness issues . ”
She ’s ripe , consumers are stand up up and make control over their health . One of the ways they ’re doing it is by kick whatsis transmissible examination services like 23andMe out of their life . The truth is there ’s not much the service can tell you . A complete genetic panel requires an in - depth viewing of your entire family . Thanksgiving is hard enough without trying to get your uncle to spit into a tube .
After 23andMe and similar services hit the market , a lot of people got the tests done so they could hear more about their ethnic background . Americans require to know if the stories about being one - sixth Cherokee were true and they had detect a test that could tell them . But once the psychometric test had been paid for , what else did 23andMe have ?
It attempted to trade a subscription service that cost $ 1,188 a yr . A cheaper version of the program be $ 298 up front and just $ 69 a year . But consumer were n’t buy and the data breach proceed some of them to delete their account and reconsider what personal data they gave to the troupe .
With Wojcicki out , CFO Joe Selsavage is taking over to see the company through its failure . It catch $ 35 million in funding to help it through the process and heel its assets and liabilities between $ 100 million and $ 500 million . It ’s unimaginable to jazz what will happen to the information of the gazillion of people who swob a cheek and get off in a sample distribution . So , again , it ’s time to delete your data .
“ If I am fortunate enough to secure the company ’s plus through the restructuring process , I continue committed to our long - term vision of being a global drawing card in genetics and plant genetics as a fundamental part of healthcare ecosystems worldwide , ” Wojcicki say on X , perhaps misinterpret the second once again .
23andMedata privacygenetic examination
Daily Newsletter
Get the best technical school , science , and culture intelligence in your inbox daily .
News from the future , delivered to your present .
You May Also Like
