23andMe Stock Heads Toward Zero on Bankruptcy

By Douglas A. McIntyre Published Mar 24, 6:25AM EDT

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23andMe Holding Co. (NASDAQ: ME) shares are headed toward zero as the DNA testing company prepares to go bankrupt.
The CEO wants to remain in control of the assets.

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23andMe Stock Heads Toward Zero on Bankruptcy — © kirstypargeter / Getty Images

23andMe Holding Co. (NASDAQ: ME) was a hot stock in late 2021, trading at $265. Today, it is heading toward zero as the company prepares to go bankrupt and its long-time CEO, Anne Wojcicki, steps down. Although their value is dubious, she will remain board chair and try to take control of the 23andMe assets. The company will try to operate through the process. It is hard to see how that can work.

The company started as a DNA testing company. People use the tests to find out where their families came from. The customer base stopped growing because people only needed to take the test once.

23andMe does have DNA information on 15 million people. If the database is sold, these people can “opt-out” to protect their privacy. Yesterday, Wojcicki said, “I remain committed to our long-term vision of being a global leader in genetics and establishing genetics as a fundamental part of healthcare ecosystems worldwide.” Since she was blamed for ruining 23andMe, that could be challenged in court.

Wojcicki tried to change the company from a DNA testing business for individuals to an enterprise company with a trove of data on millions of people that drug firms or scientists could use. Along the way, she fired almost the entire 23andMe staff. Even with the cuts, Wojcicki thought the company could develop drugs independently.

Wojcicki has tried to take 23andMe private in the past, which would have given her control of the assets. However, a special committee of the board rejected these, and the entire board resigned. Investors in 23andMe will get nothing. A bankruptcy largely protects the company from lawsuits, but the same cannot be said for Wojcicki.

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About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.