23andMe's genes not strong enough to avoid Chapter 11
- Reference: 1742824869
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/03/24/23andme_bankruptcy_protection/
- Source link:
It said that [1]Chapter 11 proceedings were initiated in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri on Sunday, and the court will oversee 23andMe's attempted sale of its assets.
Companies file for bankruptcy protection when they can no longer meet their obligations to creditors. The court will now oversee the sale of 23andMe's assets and ensure they're distributed among creditors.
[2]
Filing for bankruptcy protection doesn't necessarily mean the biz will ultimately cease operations, as the sale of assets could be used to pay creditors and continue with a leaner corporate structure.
[3]
[4]
"After a thorough evaluation of strategic alternatives, we have determined that a court-supervised sale process is the best path forward to maximize the value of the business," said Mark Jensen, chair and member of the Special Committee of the Board of Directors.
"We expect the court-supervised process will advance our efforts to address the operational and financial challenges we face, including further cost reductions and the resolution of legal and leasehold liabilities. We believe in the value of our people and our assets and hope that this process allows our mission of helping people access, understand, and benefit from the human genome to live on for the benefit of customers and patients."
[5]
Jensen also affirmed 23andMe's ongoing commitment to safeguarding customer data and stated that data privacy will be "an important consideration in any potential transaction."
23andMe was founded in 2006 but has never turned a profit. Its financial difficulties have been evident for years, but its notorious [6]October 2023 data breach certainly compounded the uncertainty surrounding its finances and long-term prospects.
Its announcement of the filing cited the legal liabilities connected to the attack in 2023 specifically, saying the Chapter 11 proceedings will be used to resolve these.
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Among them is the [8]$30 million settlement it agreed in September last year related to a class action lawsuit brought by victims of the cyberattack.
California's attorney general, Rob Bonta, issued an alert on Friday to state residents urging them to download whatever data 23andMe has on them and then request it be deleted by the company.
"The California-based company has publicly reported that it is in financial distress and stated in securities filings that there is substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern," [9]the notice reads.
[10]23andMe settles class-action breach lawsuit for $30 million
[11]UK and Canada's data chiefs join forces to investigate 23andMe mega-breach
[12]Guess the company: Takes your DNA, blames you when criminals steal it, can't spot a cyberattack for 5 months
[13]Infosec experts divided over 23andMe's 'victim-blaming' stance on data breach
23andMe awaits the court's decision on its filing. If approved, it will then seek bids for its assets over a 45-day period. If multiple bids are made, then the assets will be auctioned to maximize their value, 23andMe said.
It also plans to operate as normal until the sale is complete. Having secured $35 million in additional liquidity in the form of debtor-in-possession finance, plus the revenue generated through normal commercial operations, 23andMe said it can continue to pay staff and vendors.
The only immediate change to day-to-day operations is that co-founder Anne Wojcicki resigned from her CEO role with immediate effect but will remain on the company's board.
As part of the company's three-person founding team, she had repeatedly tried to take 23andMe private, with the most recent attempt coming in [14]February 2025 . Like the two other attempts that came before, it was rejected by the company's Special Committee of the Board of Directors earlier this month.
Wojcicki was the last remaining director after the previous seven all resigned last September, the same month the class action settlement was reached. They were all members of the special committee and, according to a letter penned to the now-former CEO, they [15]resigned over Wojcicki's failed attempts to secure an acquisition. ®
Get our [16]Tech Resources
[1] https://restructuring.ra.kroll.com/23andMe/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Z-GPsUBn7zjH6q00VzGJbQAAA4U&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z-GPsUBn7zjH6q00VzGJbQAAA4U&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Z-GPsUBn7zjH6q00VzGJbQAAA4U&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z-GPsUBn7zjH6q00VzGJbQAAA4U&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/19/latest_23andme_data_leak_takes/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Z-GPsUBn7zjH6q00VzGJbQAAA4U&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/16/security_in_brief/
[9] https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-ageneral-bonta-urgently-issues-consumer-alert-23andme-customers
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/16/security_in_brief/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/11/uk_and_canada_23andme_probe/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/26/23_and_me_breach_filing/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/04/23andme_victim_blaming_breach/
[14] https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/21/anne-wojcicki-new-offer-to-take-23andme-private-for-74point7-million.html
[15] https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/24/09/g40908960/independent-directors-of-23andme-resign-from-board
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Just don't!
Don't give up your DNA to anyone without a fight.
It will never, ever be private and will be used against you and your family sooner than later for certain. The corporations and governments are fully aware there's a lot of money to be made and power to be gained by having a large DNA data base on the server. Despite what they might say, they are not going to keep your data safe, secure and private whatsoever.
Might as well print it on a highway billboard.
The governments want the data as much or more than the corporations.Tthey aren't going to protect us, no matter what holy flim flam Swiss cheese law they might pass.
Re: Just don't!
It will never, ever be private and will be used against you and your family sooner than later for certain.
I'm aware of one case where DNA from one of these companies (I think it might actually have been this one) has been used secure a conviction in a serious criminal case. There was a serial killer in the USA (might have been the Golden State Killer, or I may be mis-remembering) where the police had DNA from a crime scene and we able to match it to the killer because a close relative of theirs had their DNA on record. Neither the killer nor any relative had been picked up by the police before, so the police had no suitable DNA record, but were able to source it from the private sector.
Re: Just don't!
That was GEDmatch. They implemented some new rules around that after the fact.
Re: Just don't!
The new rules being not to subpoena data but just to make up a customer, pay the $50 and submit the crime scene DNA.
Wait for a letter back saying "Hey! you may have a long lost twin" then find some parallel way to arrest the suspect and never mention the DNA match in court
Re: Just don't!
Lots off cases were solved by DNA linking through these databases: https://www.grunge.com/1406944/cold-cases-that-were-solved-in-2023/
Re: Just don't!
>The governments want the data as much or more than the corporations.
Without a copy of everyone's DNA how will they detect possible Canadians?
Re: Just don't!
"Without a copy of everyone's DNA how will they detect possible Canadians?"
Easy. Canadians only possessed two of each autosomal chromosome whereas MAGA types clearly have an extra helping.
The court will now oversee the sale of 23andMe's assets
Is my DNA profile regarded as one of 23andMe's assets? (Not really, they don't have my DNA)
But, it's my DNA not theirs. Profile should be returned to me if they're not doing what they promised.
Re: The court will now oversee the sale of 23andMe's assets
Don't worry, you can always trust the capital markets and US legal system to do what's best for you regardless of cost to them
Re: The court will now oversee the sale of 23andMe's assets
Do you stil have a copy of the contract?
Betcha it says they get to keep your profile (and probably the raw materials, to re-run as the price of doing that drops and the results get better, full sequences and not just a "profile") - and all the metadata attached to it (maybe they'll excise your name and address, or "anonymise" it to "keep it private").
But the only way these companies can do what they do (whatever that really is and however useless it is) is to keep all the data they have and cross-reference it. How do they "know" you are 12.7% Norse? Because you match with other people who sent in their samples and gave their birthplace as "in the cold hills of Midgard". Sure, they started with purchased samples from around the world, but they can be so much more "informative" now...
Re: The court will now oversee the sale of 23andMe's assets
Interview with a Welsh politician who had done one of these tests and it showed he was 2% Nigerian. Surprised that the clan Llywelyn had such an exotic background it was explained to him that actually it meant that a percentage of Nigerians owed their ancestry to some visiting Welsh men
Re: The court will now oversee the sale of 23andMe's assets
I was covered in an episode of BBC's 'Sliced Bread' podcast... they voted the tests BS rather than SB ('sliced bread')
Re: The court will now oversee the sale of 23andMe's assets
"I was covered in an episode of BBC's 'Sliced Bread' podcast... they voted the tests BS rather than SB ('sliced bread')"
My sister did one of those tests and it came back with her having predominately Irish heritage. I tried to explain how the test really works, but she's not that bright and it goes over her head. We can trace our paternal lineage some generations back in Scotland which is in the region and people tend to move around. No ideas on the maternal ancestry. My mother's side of the genetics wasn't all that keen on keeping family records.
I wasn't real happy with my sister having the testing done as she "enjoys" social media and, as stated, isn't very bright. I'm sure she'd trade personal information with no regard for privacy, (nothing to hide, right?) just to get a virtual pat on the head.
Re: The court will now oversee the sale of 23andMe's assets
"Welsh politician who had done one of these tests and it showed he was 2% Nigerian"
I was thinking some bronze Age tin traders from Africa going on to Cymru after Cornwall, for the rugger, but a legion of Welsh Casanovas ravishing sub Saharan Africa far more likely.
Re: The court will now oversee the sale of 23andMe's assets
How do they "know" you are 12.7% Norse?
It used to be said that particle physics is like hitting a watch with a hammer and gathering up the bits to find out how it worked. This is more like hitting several watches with a hammer and working out which bits came from which watch.
Re: The court will now oversee the sale of 23andMe's assets
Is there a law to that effect ?
for interest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrietta_Lacks
Re: The court will now oversee the sale of 23andMe's assets
All your DNA are belong to us.
Re: The court will now oversee the sale of 23andMe's assets
But, it's my DNA not theirs
But is it yours alone?
It's definitely shared between biological members of your family and what you might do with it can have serious impacts on them.
My personal opinion is the my genome is the most literal legacy or inheritance from my parents and forbears, and that I have a responsibility as a custodian to care for and protect it. I would never provide a sample to any DNA testing or ancestry service and only as a last resort to a medical laboratory.
Life and medical insurance corporations would dearly love to have access to the DNA of everyone just for starters.
Re: The court will now oversee the sale of 23andMe's assets
"Is my DNA profile regarded as one of 23andMe's assets? (Not really, they don't have my DNA)"
Are you sure that a family member didn't submit to them. Were you mentioned? Does that family member have an instapinttwitface account which has led to a data file that includes all of their connections? Coupled with the data breach, some entity is likely to have a file on you with related DNA information.
The DNA information should not be considered an asset or ever allowed to be sold no matter what the agreement stated. I believe that it's something that should have no legal path to being traded regardless of contracts where somebody simply clicked an "I agree" box on a web form to get past. The average person's belief is they pay a fee and get some information back, not that such personal information will be monetized at a later date. It's not like a credit card or Social Security account that can be replaced if breached.
They must have run out of idiots to give them their DNA
data privacy will be "an important consideration - but hey, if we can make more money without regard to data privacy, that will be of greater importance.
You've only got yourself to blame if you sent your DNA to them.....
Maybe when all that DNA gets leaked and can be analysed, they can find the idiot gene.
" 23andMe was founded in 2006 but has never turned a profit. "
Money isn't worth the paper it's printed on these days.