STAT+: 23andMe’s bankruptcy is the worst thing that could happen to just about everyone involved
The genetics company's bankruptcy is bad for co-founder Anne Wojcicki and shareholders. But customers whose data may not be protected are worst off.
How did 23andMe go bankrupt?
The same way bankruptcy was described by Ernest Hemingway in 1926: “Two ways: Gradually, and then suddenly.”
Since its founding in 2006, the company, which aimed to give consumers access to their genetic information, faced what seemed like one killing blow after another: questions of whether its business was ethical, the Food and Drug Administration blocking the sale of its tests, and, last year, a cyberattack in which hackers gained access to the records of 7 million of its customers. But, in the end, it was investors growing impatient with its business and bidding down its stock over the past year that finally led 23andMe to file for Chapter 11 protection.
Bankruptcy appears to be the worst thing for all concerned. It is bad for 23andMe’s co-founder, Anne Wojcicki, who was once a billionaire based on the value of her shares in the company and who had been negotiating with 23andMe’s board to buy the company. It’s terrible for shareholders, who might have been far better off if Wojcicki and the board (one board member quit in protest at her offer; a second rebuffed her) could have reached a deal.
