23andMe files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as co-founder and CEO Wojcicki
resigns
[March 25, 2025] By
WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS
NEW YORK (AP) — 23andMe has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
and its co-founder and CEO has resigned as the struggling genetic
testing company continues its push to cut costs.
San Francisco-based 23andMe announced on Sunday that it will look to
sell “substantially all of its assets” through a court-approved
reorganization plan.
Anne Wojcicki, who co-founded 23andMe nearly two decades ago, is also
stepping down as CEO effective immediately, the company said — but will
remain on the 23andMe board. Her resignation comes just weeks after a
board committee rejected a nonbinding acquisition proposal from Wojcicki,
who has been trying to take the company private.
And Wojcicki intends to still bid on 23andMe as the company pursues a
sale through the bankruptcy process. In a statement on social media,
Wojcicki said that she resigned as CEO to be “in the best position" as
an independent bidder.
“There is no doubt that the challenges faced by 23andMe through an
evolving business model have been real, but my belief in the company and
its future is unwavering,” she later added.
23andMe has faced an uncertain future for some time. Beyond battles to
go private, the company struggled to find a profitable business model
since going public in 2021. Privacy concerns related to customers'
genetic information have also emerged, notably spanning from a 2023 data
breach — along with questions around what new ownership could mean for
users' data.
Here's what to know.
23andMe's bankruptcy follows months of turmoil
23andMe was founded in 2006, with a promise to revolutionize the future
of genetics and health care. The company became known for its
saliva-based DNA testing kits — purchased by millions of customers eager
to learn more about their ancestry — and later dived further into health
research and drug development.
But recent years have been far from smooth sailing for 23andMe. And
Sunday's voluntary bankruptcy filing caps months of turmoil.
Last September, all of its independent directors resigned in a rare move
following acquisition negotiations with Wojcicki.
The company then announced in November that it would lay off 40% of its
workforce, or more than 200 employees, and discontinue its therapeutics
division. And in January, the board’s special committee said it was
exploring strategic alternatives, including a possible sale.
Shares of 23andMe Holding Co. have shed nearly all their value since
last spring — and plunged even farther after Sunday's bankruptcy filing,
trading at under $1 as of midday Monday.
In recent securities filings, 23andMe continued to warn about its
“ability to continue as a going concern” — which is accounting-speak for
having the resources needed to operate and stay in business.
Sunday's Chapter 11 filing from 23andMe reported total debts of more
than $214.7 million as of the end of last year. Assets, meanwhile,
amounted to over $277.4 million.
What does Chapter 11 mean for the company?
23andMe says that filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection will help
facilitate a sale of the company, meaning that it's seeking new
ownership.
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23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki speaks at an announcement for the
Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences at Genentech Hall on UCSF's
Mission Bay campus in San Francisco, Feb. 20 2013. (AP Photo/Jeff
Chiu, File)
 In a statement Sunday, Board Chair
Mark Jensen said that this court-supervised process was “the best
path forward.” He added they also expect it to help 23andMe’s
efforts to cut costs as well as resolve legal and leasehold
liabilities.
23andMe is looking to pull back from its real estate footprint.
Among motions filed on Sunday, the company is seeking court approval
to reject lease contracts in San Francisco and Sunnyvale,
California, for example, in efforts to help cut down on expenses.
Otherwise, 23andMe says it plans to continue operating. The company
says it's received $35 million in debtor-in-possession financing
from JMB Capital Partners to help support its business throughout
the bankruptcy process.
I'm a 23andMe customer. Is my genetic data safe?
23andMe says its bankruptcy filing won’t change the way it stores or
protects data. Jensen, the board chair, said Sunday that 23andMe is
“committed to continuing to safeguard customer data” and that data
privacy will be “an important consideration” in any future sale.
John Bringardner of Debtwire notes that any new buyer of 23andMe
will have to comply with regulatory approvals that ensure “customer
data won’t end up in unscrupulous hands.”
Still, who will end up owning 23andMe down the road is unknown. And
experts note that risks remain.
“Personal data collected by 23andme has always been at risk,”
Bringardner wrote in emailed commentary on Monday — pointing
particularly to a 2023 data breach that compromised ancestral
information for nearly 7 million 23andMe customers. He adds that
litigation spanning from the aftermath of this breach helped drive
up liabilities that eventually contributed to the current bankruptcy
filing.
Last year, 23andMe agreed to pay $30 million in cash to settle a
class-action lawsuit accusing the company of failing to protect
customers whose personal information was exposed in this breach. On
Sunday, the company said that it plans to use bankruptcy proceedings
to “resolve all outstanding legal liabilities" stemming from the
October 2023 incident.
Beyond this data breach, uncertainty about the company's future
overall has also led some to recently urge 23andMe customers to
delete their data.
On Friday, days before 23andMe's bankruptcy filing, California
Attorney General Rob Bonta issued an urgent alert reminding 23andMe
customers of their legal rights under state law — and called on them
to consider deleting and destroying any genetic data held by the
company. Bonta's office pointed to 23andMe's ongoing financial
distress and “trove of sensitive consumer data” the company has
amassed.
______
AP Health Writer Tom Murphy contributed to this report from
Indianapolis.
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