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Re:

Anne Wojcicki Regained Control of 23andMe—but Not the Old Public Company

Anne Wojcicki did regain control of 23andMe’s operating business, but through a nonprofit bankruptcy asset purchase—not by simply buying back the old public company.
From TheFinanceBase Team5 min to read
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Yes—but the headline needs a legal footnote. Anne Wojcicki regained control of 23andMe’s operating business through TTAM Research Institute, the nonprofit she founded and led. The nonprofit acquired substantially all of the company’s operating assets for $305 million, and the transaction closed on July 14, 2025. She did not simply buy back the former public company or restore its pre-bankruptcy ownership structure.

What happened to 23andMe?

23andMe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 23, 2025, after declining consumer demand, financial pressure and the continuing fallout from its 2023 security breach. The company’s earlier efforts to go private had not succeeded. Wojcicki resigned as CEO when the bankruptcy filing was announced but remained on the board.

The bankruptcy created a court-supervised process to sell the business. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals initially appeared to win that process with a reported $256 million offer. Wojcicki’s nonprofit later submitted a higher proposal and argued that it had not received a fair opportunity to compete. The auction was reopened before the Regeneron transaction closed.

TTAM Research Institute ultimately offered $305 million in cash. The Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri approved the sale, and it closed on July 14, 2025. Company filings later identified TTAM as 23andMe Research Institute.

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23andMe’s sale announcement and subsequent SEC filings document the agreement and closing.

What Wojcicki actually regained

The precise description is that an affiliated nonprofit acquired substantially all of 23andMe’s operating assets through a bankruptcy asset sale. Those assets included:

  • the Personal Genome Service consumer DNA business;
  • Research Services and related research operations;
  • Lemonaid Health;
  • related technology, customer accounts, operations and data assets covered by the transaction.

That is different from buying all outstanding shares of 23andMe Holding Co. An asset sale can transfer an operating business while leaving the former holding company, its securities, bankruptcy claims and shareholder interests in a separate legal situation.

So “Wojcicki bought 23andMe” is understandable shorthand, but it is incomplete. Her nonprofit bought the business and assets—not the old public company in the ordinary merger or share-buyout sense.

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Why the nonprofit structure mattered

Wojcicki did not bid simply as an individual former CEO. TTAM Research Institute was a California nonprofit public-benefit corporation affiliated with and led by her. That structure allowed her organization to compete for the business while presenting a different ownership and governance model from a conventional corporate buyer.

It also created obvious conflict-of-interest questions because Wojcicki had been both 23andMe’s founder and a director and was closely associated with the proposed buyer. The bankruptcy process included review by a special committee, court scrutiny and objections from states concerned about the handling of genetic information.

Nonprofit status does not automatically mean that customer data is protected from every future risk. Customers’ rights still depend on the applicable privacy policies, consent documents, contracts and law. Nor does a nonprofit buyer make customers owners of their genetic information in a simple property-law sense.

What happened to customers’ genetic data?

The transaction materials included commitments to continue following existing privacy policies, preserve customers’ choices to delete their accounts and genetic data, maintain research opt-out rights, and establish consumer privacy oversight. They also placed restrictions on a future sale or transfer of genetic data unless a successor met specified privacy requirements.

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Those are important protections, but they are not an absolute promise that data can never be transferred, shared or affected by future legal disputes. Research participation can involve coded or de-identified information, and withdrawing consent does not necessarily erase data already incorporated into a completed or ongoing study.

A coalition of 27 states and the District of Columbia sought to block or delay the sale over concerns that genetic information could be transferred without individual consent. The bankruptcy court approved the transaction, and the challenge did not stop the closing. That approval did not eliminate all possible state-law disputes, regulatory scrutiny or future litigation.

What customers can do now

Customers should rely on the current account controls and privacy terms—not only on the identity of the buyer.

  1. Download information first. Save any account or raw DNA data you want to retain before closing the account.
  2. Review research consent. Research participation is voluntary. Customers can change or withdraw consent through Account Settings, although information already used in a study may not be removable retroactively. The company says it will not include the data in studies beginning more than 30 days after an opt-out.
  3. Delete the account if desired. Go to Account Settings → 23andMe Data and follow the account-closure instructions. The deletion request requires email confirmation and becomes irreversible once confirmed.
  4. Check sample handling. Stored saliva samples are discarded when applicable, although limited information may be retained for legal or administrative reasons.
  5. Read the current privacy statement. Policies and consent choices matter more than a general assurance that the business has a new owner.

See 23andMe’s instructions for account closure and research participation and consent.

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Did shareholders get 23andMe back?

No—not in the ordinary sense. The acquired operating assets can continue under the nonprofit while the former public company remains subject to the bankruptcy process. An asset purchase does not automatically give former shareholders ownership in the buyer or in the transferred business.

Investors should therefore avoid treating the $305 million sale price as a payment to public shareholders. The status and potential recovery of equity holders depend on the former holding company’s bankruptcy proceedings and distributions, not simply on the fact that the operating business survived.

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Is Anne Wojcicki CEO again?

The available closing materials support saying that Wojcicki regained control through the nonprofit she founded and led. They do not support casually describing the transaction as her resuming the exact CEO role at the former public company.

The more accurate wording is that her organization acquired the operating business and that she remained its prominent founder and leader. The former public-company structure was not simply restored.

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What does 23andMe offer now?

Official customer-care materials list ancestry, health and expanded membership offerings, including Ancestry, Premium Ancestry and Premium Ancestry + Health and Total Health offerings. Availability depends on geography, eligibility and the current service terms.

The official U.S. support material reviewed lists Premium Ancestry + Health membership at $99 per year for eligible existing customers. It does not establish a universal current price for every customer or country. Canadian pricing and promotions differ; for example, a Canada page displayed figures such as C$119 for Ancestry and C$129 for Health + Ancestry at the time reviewed.

23andMe’s health reports are not a substitute for diagnosis or physician-ordered clinical testing. The company says the service is not intended to diagnose disease; some reports meet FDA requirements, while others are based on company research and have not been reviewed by the FDA.

Customers comparing DNA services should examine more than the kit price. Compare research participation, deletion procedures, sample storage, subscription renewal terms and rules governing future data transfers. Alternatives such as AncestryDNA, MyHeritage DNA and FamilyTreeDNA have different features and policies; no provider should be labeled categorically safer without a current policy-by-policy comparison.

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Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

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