E-Paper
23andMe stock falls nearly 60% due to bankruptcy filing
23andMe is a Silicon Valley-based company which provides ancestry and health information using a mail-back saliva test. It has now filed for bankruptcy.
The shares of DNA testing giant 23andMe plunged after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and announced the resignation of its CEO on Sunday.
The company's shares plummeted 59.22% or by $1.06, closing at $0.73 on the Nasdaq after Monday's trading session ended.
Also Read: Jack Ma-backed Ant Group touts AI breakthrough using Chinese chips
Monday's pre-market time saw the shares down over 40%, with its market capitalization falling below $50 million. This is a fraction of the $6 billion value it had during a peaked in the months following its initial public offering (IPO).
What is 23andMe?
23andMe is a Silicon Valley-based company which provides ancestry and health information to its customers using a mail-back saliva test.
It went public in 2021, claims that it has 15 million customers, but has since seen a decline in sales over the recent months when the DNA testing craze faded and the company also suffered a data breach.
Also Read: Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) notified for govt employees: Eligibility, what’s new
The company witnessed a hack and data breach incident in 2023, endangering the data of 6.9 million accounts relating to names, sex, birth year, location, photos, health information, and genetic ancestry results.
The company agreed to pay approximately $37.5 million to settle claims related to the data breach, according to a report by news agency AFP.
What happened to 23andMe?
23andMe announced that it is planning a court-supervised sale or auction of its assets with the company filing " a voluntary petition for reorganization" with a state bankruptcy court in Missouri.
It had also dismissed of 40 percent of its staff in November, which is about 200 people, along with suspending its research programs.
It also had rejected a takeover offer from its co-founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki, who has resigned from her position to facilitate her position as an independent bidder, but will also remain on the company's board of directors.
