{"id":2608,"date":"2025-03-27T18:23:07","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T18:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/03\/27\/what-happened-before-23andme-lost-99-8-of-its-value\/"},"modified":"2025-03-27T18:23:11","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T18:23:11","slug":"what-happened-before-23andme-lost-99-8-of-its-value","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/03\/27\/what-happened-before-23andme-lost-99-8-of-its-value\/","title":{"rendered":"What Happened Before 23andMe Lost 99.8% of Its Value?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Anne Wojcicki, once the face of biotech\u2019s consumer revolution, holding a Breakthrough Prize. Years later, 23andMe has filed for bankruptcy\u2014taking 99.8 percent of its value and the genetic data of 15 million customers into court. Getty Images & Unsplash+<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once worth $6 billion, with shares trading north of $300 a piece, California-based genetic testing company 23andMe declared bankruptcy<\/a>\u00a0on Monday (March 23) after losing 99.8 percent of its market value. 23andMe (ME)<\/a> analyzed at-home saliva tests to provide ancestral history for a customer\u2014more specifically, it did this for 15 million customers. It also sold anonymized data about those customers to companies like the pharmaceutical giant GSK. There are now 15 million customers whose data is at risk as 23andMe heads to bankruptcy court.<\/p>\n

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Founded by Anne Wojcicki<\/a>, Linda Avey<\/a> and Paul Cusenza<\/a> in 2006, 23andMe company received $3.9 million a year later from Google (GOOGL)<\/a>, which was co-founded by Wojcicki\u2019s then-husband, Sergey Brin<\/a>. A graduate of Yale, Wojcicki worked as a healthcare analyst on Wall Street for four years before moving into healthcare research. Her older sister was Susan Wojcicki<\/a>, who passed away in 2024 after a little over a decade as CEO of YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In 2017, 23andMe raised $250 million at a $1.75 billion valuation. In 2018, the company won Time Magazine\u2019s \u201cInvention of the Year\u201d award<\/a> for its direct-to-customer business model. Another major success came later that year, when 23andMe partnered with GlaxoSmithKline<\/a>, granting the pharmaceutical giant access to genetic data from 5 million customers for drug development. GlaxoSmithKline<\/a> initially invested $300 million, extending the collaboration in January 2022 with an additional $50 million. The company went public via a SPAC in 2021, which allows companies to circumvent some financial disclosures and file a traditional prospectus, soon reaching its peak valuation of $6 billion. Wojcicki owned around 49 percent of the company\u2019s voting stock.<\/p>\n

23andMe remained popular after going public, but the company struggled to find recurring customers. By design, the at-home test was a product that no consumer should need to purchase more than once. Ancestry testing is a one-and-done experience. The limited revenue model and rising customer acquisition costs challenged the company\u2019s long-term profitability prospects, and 23andMe never returned to its 2021 valuation of $6 billion. In October 2023, the company was hacked, exposing around 7 million people\u2019s information and data. Last September, all independent members of the board of directors resigned<\/a> after Wojcicki made numerous unsuccessful attempts to take the company private. Soon after, in November 2024, 23andMe laid off 40 percent<\/a> of its staff\u2014around 200 people\u2014to reduce costs by $35 million. In the first nine months of the company\u2019s current fiscal year, revenue declined 7 percent and posted losses of $174 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A month before 23andMe\u2019s bankruptcy, Wojcicki continued to make numerous fully-financed\u00a0offers to take the company private<\/a>, though the board rejected all. Some reports show Wojcicki\u2019s bid was as high as\u00a0$42 million<\/a>, almost triple the company\u2019s current market cap of ~$14 million (as of March 26).<\/p>\n

After the bankruptcy announcement, Wojcicki said she would persist in\u00a0privately owning the company. \u201cI have resigned as C.E.O. of the company so I can be in the best position to pursue the company as an independent bidder,\u201d Wojcicki posted<\/a>. Now, 23andMe awaits court approval to sell its assets under Chapter 11<\/span>\u00a0and will seek qualified buyers over 45 days. The company\u2019s bankruptcy filing suggests it has between $100 million and $500 million in assets and liabilities each.<\/p>\n

California Attorney General Rob Bonta<\/a>\u00a0urged customers to remove their genetic data from 23andMe<\/a>, as it will\u00a0likely be sold<\/a> to the highest bidder. 23andMe stated its data protection policies will remain unchanged during the sale, and Wojcicki emphasized her commitment to protecting customers\u2019 private data<\/p>\n

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