{"id":1643017,"date":"2026-04-22T16:12:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T20:12:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/observer.com\/?p=1643017"},"modified":"2026-04-23T09:48:53","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T13:48:53","slug":"23andme-founder-anne-wojcicki-nonprofit-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/observer.com\/2026\/04\/23andme-founder-anne-wojcicki-nonprofit-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"Anne Wojcicki on 23andMe’s Second Life"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Anne
After bankruptcy, Wojcicki is reshaping 23andMe into a research-driven nonprofit. Mandel NGAN \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There\u2019s a lot of confusion around 23andMe: Is the company still in business? Is it now owned by Regeneron, the biotech company that once tried to buy it? Are its genetic test kits still available for sale? And if you\u2019re a customer, what happens to your data? It\u2019s been about a year since 23andMe plummeted into Chapter 11<\/span><\/a> following a series of financial and regulatory misfortunes. Last summer, in bankruptcy court, the company\u2019s founder and former CEO, Anne Wojcicki, won a bidding war against Regeneron and took over 23andMe\u2019s assets<\/span><\/a>, most importantly the genetic data of millions of users, for $305 million. The company now operates as the 23andMe Research Institute, a nonprofit medical research organization.<\/p>\n

Its nonprofit status means 23andMe is now more focused on making a positive impact than selling test kits. “We have, in many ways, the same mission and the same business, but it’s 100 percent aligned now with having a scientific impact,” Wojcicki told Observer at the Semafor World Economy conference in Washington D.C. last week. “Everything that we do now is through that angle of the impact of the foundation.”<\/p>\n

23andMe Research Institute is a nonprofit medical research organization, which means it isn\u2019t bound by the 5 percent annual payout rule required of private charities like the Gates Foundation. Instead, it must continuously engage in medical research. The structure also adds a layer of protection for user data. If 23andMe Research Institute were to shut down, it couldn\u2019t simply sell the data to, say, a hedge fund; the assets would have to be transferred to another nonprofit with a similar mission. During congressional testimony last year, Wojcicki also pledged never to sell data to China or any entity owned by a foreign adversary.<\/p>\n

At its peak, 23andMe was valued at $6 billion when it went public in 2021. By the time it filed for bankruptcy, its market cap had fallen to around $20 million. A major turning point came in late 2023, when the company suffered a data breach that ultimately affected nearly seven million users, including relatives of more than 10,000 users whose accounts were directly compromised. The incident sparked a \u201cdelete 23andMe\u201d campaign, prompting about two million users (out of 15 million) to leave the platform before the restructuring.<\/p>\n

“Part of the reason why we became a nonprofit was to protect the data in perpetuity,” Wojcicki said. “Going forward as a nonprofit, it gives it a new level of stability.”<\/p>\n

Despite the user losses, she maintains that customers retained control over their data. \u201cAs painful as the last couple of years have been, what I\u2019m proud of is that we honored our word by making sure customers always had a choice,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

23andMe Research Institute is funded by both 23andMe\u2019s revenue and outside capital, and Wojcicki said it\u2019s on track to cover research spending through revenue alone. The organization is governed by a board with close ties to Wojcicki and the biotech world, including Stephen Quake, head of science at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative; her sister Janet Wojcicki, an epidemiology professor at UCSF; her family office CEO Stephen Magowan; and seasoned biotech executive Brad Margus.<\/p>\n

A focus on research<\/h3>\n

Earlier this month, 23andMe Research Institute published a major study<\/a> in the science journal Nature<\/em> on genetic predictors for GLP-1 weight-loss drugs.<\/a> The study offers the first direct genetic evidence explaining why people respond differently to medications like Ozempic and Wegovy. Analyzing data from more than 27,000 participants, researchers identified genetic markers linked to both weight-loss success and the risk of severe side effects.<\/p>\n

This kind of scientific contribution is now the company\u2019s core focus. Medical research is notoriously expensive and slow. 23andMe is trying to disrupt that model by building what Wojcicki describes as \u201ca massive, ongoing, never-ending research cohort where you can ask all kinds of questions.\u201d Even when recruiting narrowly defined groups\u2014for example, only people with Parkinson\u2019s\u2014the company asks them a wide range of questions, from serious conditions like cancer to traits as specific as sneezing in response to sunlight. \u201cWe ask all kinds of questions, and because we have all this data\u2014and 13 million people participating\u2014you can do research almost like it\u2019s a Google query,\u201d she said during an onstage interview last week. More than 11 million of 23andMe users have consented to participate in research, a company spokesperson clarified.<\/p>\n

Wojcicki\u2019s sister, former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, died in August 2024 at age 56 after a two-year battle with non-small-cell lung cancer. “She was really clear that you should do whatever you can with my data that advances lung cancer,” Wojcicki said. “So we want to reflect whatever is in the interest of our customer.” She emphasized that 23andMe does not sell user data and only shares scientific insights with partners.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have two primary goals,\u201d Wojcicki said. \u201cOne, that every person in the world can benefit from genetic testing. Everyone should know their genetic information. And two, to build the world\u2019s largest open-source research platform so we can answer important questions faster and with far less capital.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Correction: A previous version of this article stated that 23andMe was owned by TTAM. TTAM was an entity created during 23andMe’s bankruptcy process for the purpose of bidding on the company’s assets.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After a data breach and collapse, Anne Wojcicki is rebuilding 23andMe as a nonprofit aimed at democratizing large-scale genetic research.<\/p>\n Read More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":129757851,"featured_media":1643384,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"post_tag":[21464,424011893],"company":[423811446,423976661,423996054,423975136],"channel":[186,423867218,423875666,423979940],"location":[],"nyo_column":[],"person":[423888795,424012311,423997395,424012312,424012313,423882013],"nyo_post_hidden":[],"coauthor":[423887374],"class_list":{"0":"post-1643017","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"tag-biotech","8":"tag-semafor-world-economy","9":"observer_company-23andme","10":"observer_company-chan-zuckerberg-initiative","11":"observer_company-regeneron","12":"observer_company-youtube","13":"channel-business","14":"channel-interviews","15":"channel-technology","16":"channel-interviews-with-business-leaders","17":"nyo_person-anne-wojcicki","18":"nyo_person-stephen-quake","19":"nyo_person-janet-wojcicki","20":"nyo_person-stephen-magowan","21":"nyo_person-brad-margus","22":"nyo_person-susan-wojcicki"},"acf":{"homepage_position":"","homepage_title":"","homepage_excerpt":"","alternative_og_image":"","headline":{"seo_headline":""},"subheadline":{"optimized_seo_description":"","optimized_social_excerpt":""}},"apple_news_notices":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/observer.com\/2026\/04\/23andme-founder-anne-wojcicki-nonprofit-mission\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":[],"rendered":"","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/observer.com\/p.js"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2270738608.jpg?quality=80","coauthors_byline":"By Sissi Cao","display_channel":"","thumbnail":"\"Anne