Days after proposal to settle data breach lawsuit 30 million dollars18-year-old genetic testing company 23andMe now faces another public setback: Seven independent directors on its board resigned on Tuesday through a letterhead to CEO Anne Wojcicki, who is now the only remaining board member.
Resigning directors, among whom were CEO of YouTube Neal Mohan and Sequoia VC Roelof Botha, called out Wojcicki for not submitting a “fully funded, fully diligent, viable proposal” to take the company private over the past five months. They wrote that their strategic direction for 23andMe was different from Wojcicki's.
“Because of this change and because of your concentrated voting power, we believe it is in the best interest of the Company's stockholders that we resign from the Board rather than have a protracted and distracting disagreement with you regarding with the direction of the Company”, they said.
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Wojcicki, who co-founded the company in 2006, controls 49% from 23 and With votes. In July, she submitted a proposal to buy all the stock it didn't already own at $0.40 a share and take the company private. A special committee established by the company rejected her proposalstating that it was not in the best interest of the shareholders.
Anne Wojcicki. Credit: Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Wojcicki told employees in a memo on Tuesday that it was “surprised and disappointed” by the resignations and would immediately begin finding replacement directors. She stated that “taking 23andMe private will be the best opportunity for long-term success.”
23 and I, that was worth 6 billion dollars in 2021, shortly after going public, it is now worth a penny a share 34 cents per share at the time of writing. The company has until November 4 to bring its share price up to at least $1 per share or risk delisting.
23andMe has faced a number of public hurdles, including a data breach in October, it affected nearly 7 million accounts and appeared to target people of Chinese or Ashkenazi Jewish descent. Consumers filed a class action lawsuit in January and 23andMe proposed a $30 million settlement earlier this month.
23andMe's flagship product is a $99 ancestry kit that requires a customer to submit saliva in exchange for genetic knowledge. A $199 kit advertises health predisposition reports. The company is too home drug development and testing them.
Related: 23andMe Hackers Selling Stolen User Data, Including 'Celebrity' DNA Profiles, on Dark Web