Who is Anne Wojcicki? DNA testing firm 23andMe CEO resigns amid the company’s bankruptcy filing 

Popular DNA testing firm 23andMe's announced on Sunday, March 23, 2025, that co-founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki has resigned from her role, according to a company press release.

The announcement coincides with the company's voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. According to the United States Courts' website, Chapter 11 allows for a "reorganization" to help keep the business operational.

Wojcicki co-founded 23andMe in 2006 alongside Linda Avey and Paul Cusenza. The company specializes in saliva-based at-home test kits, that provide customers with health and ancestry data.

According to the press release, 23andMe plans to sell itself under the supervision while continuing operations without any changes "to the way the company stores, manages or protects customer data." However, on Friday, California's Attorney General issued a consumer alert advising customers to delete their data, according to the New York Post.

"Given 23andMe’s reported financial distress, I remind Californians to consider invoking their rights and directing 23andMe to delete their data and destroy any samples of genetic material held by the company," the AG noted.

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After stepping down as the CEO, Anne Wojcicki would continue to serve as a member of 23andMe’s Board

Anne Wojcicki was born in Palo Alto, California, as the youngest of three sisters. Her eldest sister, Susan Wojcicki, is the former CEO of YouTube and previously served as a senior vice president at Google. Their middle sister, Dr. Janet Wojcicki, is an anthropologist and epidemiologist at the University of California in San Francisco.

According to a CNBC profile in June 2018, the sisters grew up on the Stanford University campus, where their father was the chairman of the physics department.

Anne Wojcicki holds a Bachelor of Science in biology from Yale University, graduating in 1996. According to reports, she was a competitive ice skater and played varsity ice hockey while in college.

Per her LinkedIn profile, after graduation, she worked as a healthcare analyst— first at Investor AB, then at Ardlesy Partners (until 2000), followed by Andor Capital Management, and finally at Passport Capital.

In 2006, she co-founded 23andMe with Linda Avey, a genetics expert, and Paul Cusenza, an engineer and executive. Notably, Avey originally had the idea for the personal genomics business. The company went public in 2021.

According to the New York Post, 23andMe thrived until 2020, when it was valued at $6 billion. However, its rapid expansion into drug research and pharmaceutical partnerships strained the business. Further, in 2023, the company suffered a major data breach. By 2024, its valuation dropped to $80 million.

Despite stepping down as the CEO, Wojcicki will continue to serve as a member of 23andMe’s board.

Anne Wojcicki and Sergey Brin at the 2017 Breakthrough Prize (Image via Getty)

Anne Wojcicki married Google co-founder Sergey Brin in May 2007. The couple has two children—a son, Benji Wojin, born in 2008, and a daughter Chloe Wojin, born in 2011. The pair divorced in 2015. In July 2019, Wojcicki gave birth to a daughter, conceived through sperm donation, according to Business Insider.

Despite their divorce, Wojcicki and Brin continue to run the Brin-Wojcicki Foundation together. In 2022, Anne joined The Giving Pledge, a commitment by the world's wealthiest individuals to donate most of their wealth.

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Joe Selsavage, the chief financial and accounting officer at 23andMe, has been appointed as the interim CEO.