A view of the 23ndme headquarters in Sunnyvale, California, on March 25, 2025.
Tayfun Coskun | Anadolu | Getty images
23 and The co -founder Linda Avey went to social networks on Wednesday to express frustration about the destiny of the genetic test company that once prolonged the bankruptcy protection of chapter 11 this week.
Avey helped launch me in 2006 along with Paul Cusenza and Anne Wojcicki, who resigned as CEO on Friday. The company was conventional due to its popular DNA test kits at home, but had problems in recent years to generate recurring income, stand up therapeutics and therapeutic research and assault privacy concerns.
“My time in the company was interrupted in 2009, when my co -founder Anne convinced the Board that she should direct the company,” Avey wrote in a publication on the social media site X. “And I must be honest, I was frustrated with the direction he took after that point.”
23Andme, which reached a maximum market capitalization of approximately $ 6 billion, was worth around $ 14 million at the close of the market on Wednesday.
“Without the continuous development of consumer -centered products, and without governance, 23Andme lost its course, and society lost a key opportunity to promote the idea of personalized health,” Avey wrote.
Last March, the independent directors of 23Andme formed a special committee to evaluate the company's potential routes. The seven members renounced the Board in September and said they did not agree with Wojcicki on the “strategic direction for the company.”
“After my departure, he designed a vote majority that eliminated the governance of the Board, even when it expanded in the following financing rounds,” said Avey. “For better or worse, the dollar stopped with it. It was not a surprise when the Board resigned last year.”
Wojcicki presented multiple proposals to take the company in private, but they were all rejected, even after the company appointed new members of the Board. The special committee “unanimously determined to reject” the most recent proposal of Wojcicki earlier this month.
If the Court approves the Plan of Chapter 11 of 23, the company “will actively request qualified offers” in a 45 -day process. Wojcicki still plans to follow the company as an independent bid, said in an X post on Monday.
“There are many warning stories buried in the history of 23 Andme,” said Avey. “Putting a balance between the founder's desire and the supervision of the Board is essential; otherwise, why have a table?”
23Andme did not respond immediately to the request for comments from CNBC.
