--- title: "Every Member of 23andMe’s Board Except the CEO Just Resigned in Disgust" description: "Nearly the entire board of directors for 23andMe has resigned — a move that apparently was news to its overly-optimistic chief executive." date: "2024-09-19" modified: "2024-09-19" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/23andme-board-resigns" categories: - "Gene Editing" - "Genetics" - "Health & Medicine" tags: - "23andme" - "dna" - "dna kit" - "genome sequencing" --- # Every Member of 23andMe’s Board Except the CEO Just Resigned in Disgust ![Nearly the entire board of directors for 23andMe has resigned — a move that apparently was news to its overly-optimistic chief executive.]() *Sunnyvale California, United States - September 24, 2021: Headquarters of 23andMe, a personal genomics and biotechnology company headquartered in Mountain View, California that provides rapid genetic testing. \Image: JasonDoiy/Getty Images\* After a [years-long valuation free-for-all](), every member of 23andMe's board of directors just resigned — a move that apparently took its ever-optimistic chief executive by surprise. This week, seven of the DNA testing kit company's eight board members [resigned in an open letter]() addressed to company CEO and cofounder Anne Wojcicki, effectively accusing her of slow-rolling their buyout offers as she attempts to take the company private. "While we continue to wholeheartedly support the Company’s mission... it is also clear that we differ on the strategic direction for the Company going forward," the newly-resigned directors wrote, adding that Wojcicki's 49 percent ownership of 23andMe made voting against her fruitless. The CEO, who is now the final remaining board member, responded to the resignations in a memo to employees that said she still intends to [buy back the company](), which [went public]() in June 2021 and subsequently [lost almost all its value](). "I am surprised and disappointed by the decision of the directors to resign," Wojcicki wrote in her address to "Team 23," which was first [reported by the *Wall Street Journal*](). She said that she'd soon be hunting for new directors and added that "outside of the short term pressures of the public markets," taking 23andMe private will still "be the best opportunity for long term success." Wojcicki and the newly-resigned board are now [under private investigation]() over the details of the deal to take the company private, and 23andMe's shares are now hovering around $0.34 per share, down from a high of around $16 during its salad days. Throughout this debacle, Wojcicki has remained Pollyanna-ish in her optimism about 23andMe's future despite losing almost all of its value amid a data breach scandal that [exposed genetic information]() on nearly seven million customers. This past February, for instance, the CEO was chipper in an [interview with *Wired*]() as she discussed the company's new drug discovery projects — despite "I think it’s a really exciting time," Wojcicki told *Wired.* "I think that there’s going to be incredible advances in healthcare, and honestly, I’m most interested in how you shift the curve on people." **More on DNA:** [*Scientists Propose Fortress of Earth's DNA Samples Housed on the Moon in Case of Apocalypse*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()