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Tag: 23andme

  • These Are the Biggest Founder Comebacks of 2025

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    Everyone loves a good comeback story, but the definition of comeback can vary significantly, especially in the startup world. In some instances, a comeback is the return of a founder to the business he or she left or was forced out of, helping it to recapture the spark that made it a success. In others, it’s a calculated change in direction that helps keep a company relevant when things look dire. Here are some of the most notable comebacks from this year.

    Kevin Rose, Digg

    Rose co-founded Digg, a repository of Internet links, in 2004. It quickly became a must-visit site, with users upvoting and downvoting the stories they liked and loathed the most. (That formula is now a common one at many websites.) Digg grew to an estimated worth of $160 million by 2008. A 2010 redesign was so unpopular, however, that the audience migrated over to Reddit (which offered a similar upvote/downvote functionality). Rose sold the company in 2012.

    Earlier this year, though, Rose and his one-time rival Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, bought Digg with plans to revive it. Backed by True Ventures (where Rose is a partner) and Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six, the revived Digg aims to provide a human-centered experience in the age of AI.

    “In the current social media landscape, community discourse has grown increasingly combative, cluttered, and exhausting,” the two said in announcing the deal. “Users are bogged down by misinformation, spam, and the emotional toll of navigating hostile interactions. The upcoming relaunch of Digg is offering a solution.”

    Anne Wojcicki, 23andMe

    Wojcicki’s comeback might be one of the fastest on record as well as one of the most controversial. The 23andMe co-founder resigned as CEO in March of this year when the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (though stayed on as a member of the board). That bankruptcy of the company, which was once valued at $6 billion, followed a 2023 hacking incident that raised several concerns about the company. (The hackers, in one online post that offered data for sale, bragged of having a huge database of Ashkenazi Jews, including people whose ties with that ancestry are less than 1%.) Customers were also concerned that their DNA could be sold to a third-party company without their consent during the bankruptcy. 

    Wojcicki first offered to buy the company in mid-2024. The 23andMe board rejected her bid to take the company private, later quitting en masse. In June, though, TTAM, a nonprofit run by Wojcicki, agreed to buy the genetic testing company for $305 million. “I am thrilled that TTAM Research Institute will be able to continue the mission of 23andMe to help people access, understand and benefit from the human genome,” Wojcicki said in a statement at the time. She has since resumed her role as CEO.

    Ty Haney, Outdoor Voices

    Haney left Outdoor Voices five years ago, amid growing pains at the direct-to-consumer apparel brand. In July, whispers of her return were confirmed, along with news that she was now also a partial owner and partner. While her main focus will still be her brand loyalty rewards platform, Try Your Best, she told Inc. earlier this year that she believed she could win back the trust of Outdoor Voices customers and draw in a younger customer base as well. And the key might be having the two companies work together.

    “It feels very full circle and obvious for OV to step into TYB,” she said. “At Outdoor Voices, we had such a strong community, and it became one of our most profitable and productive growth channels. That said, we didn’t have a tool to make those efforts scalable and measurable. … When you engage closely in this way with your best customers, it does increase their value over time.” 

    Parag Agrawal, Parallel Web Systems

    The former CEO of Twitter, who was fired by Elon Musk in 2022, resurfaced this year with the launch of Parallel Web Systems, which aims to let AI systems conduct reliable, real-time research online. The company was quietly founded in 2023, but debuted its first products in August and secured a Series A round of $100 million in November, which valued Parallel at $740 million. (The round was co-led by Kleiner Perkins and Index Ventures, with existing backers, including Khosla Ventures, also taking part.)

    Pinky Cole, Slutty Vegan

    Cole temporarily lost control of her company earlier in 2025 due to a restructuring that followed a number of financial issues, including $20 million in debt. She wasn’t ready to give up on it, though. One month after she was kicked out, she reacquired full ownership of the fast-casual brand, using an LLC called “Ain’t Nobody Coming to See You, Otis.” Slutty Vegan 2.0 is a leaner company, with six locations instead of 18 and a new focus on franchising and plans for a global expansion. 

    “People love Slutty Vegan because they love me, and I used to not tap into that, but I 1764371429 know I have a superpower with people,” she told People magazine. “People love me, so I know that people are going to support and back me in whatever it is that I authentically do.”

    The final deadline for the 2026 Inc. Regionals Awards is Friday, December 12, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply now.

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    Chris Morris

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  • 23andMe Is Sinking Fast. Can the Company Survive?

    23andMe Is Sinking Fast. Can the Company Survive?

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    Kteily says by the time the company rolled out these services, it was too late. Customers had already left the platform. “I think they hit on something viral, which was the concept of where you’ve come from. People found that so fascinating. But once you know that information, you’re not going to come back five years later and pay for a subscription,” he says.

    Sumit Nagpal, a serial entrepreneur in the health tech space and a self-described early adopter of 23andMe, says he was among the company’s subscribers but eventually stopped logging into the online platform. He says the reports didn’t provide much “actionable” health advice. “It never had any life-changing value,” he says.

    Nagpal’s latest company, Cherish, which he founded in 2020, is developing radar-based sensor platforms equipped with AI for health and safety monitoring. He thinks 23andMe could have had more offerings earlier on—for instance, personalized coaching on diet, exercise, and other lifestyle factors on an ongoing basis to keep customers engaged.

    In many ways, 23andMe’s conundrum is similar to the Instant Pot problem. Its initial product was so successful that people never needed to come back to buy another one.

    23andMe has tried to diversify its revenue streams, making deals to allow pharmaceutical companies to mine its vast genetic database for drug leads. It partnered with Genentech back in 2015, and when that ended, it struck an exclusive deal with GlaxoSmithKline in 2018. The pharma company invested $300 million in 23andMe, but that agreement expired in 2023, with no big partners stepping in to fill Glaxo’s shoes. And while 23andMe recently shut down its drug discovery unit, it is continuing to advance the drug candidates it already has in clinical trials.

    Now, the company has turned to growing its telehealth business. In 2021, it acquired telehealth service Lemonaid. Capitalizing on the Ozempic craze, Lemonaid started offering Ozempic, Wegovy, and compounded semaglutide in August through a weight-loss program. After an initial consultation with a clinician, the membership is $49 per month with weight-loss medication starting at $299 a month for compounded semaglutide. “The addition of weight-loss management for our customers fits directly within our strategy of delivering services to approved individuals’ health through preventive actions,” Wojcicki said in an earnings call in August.

    But it may not be enough. Estelle Giraud, CEO and founder of Trellis Health, which is building a health app for pregnancy, says the anti-obesity space is already crowded. 23andMe will have to prove that it offers something unique compared to other telehealth providers. “If I’m a customer looking for a telehealth solution, it comes down to brand and trust,” she says.

    And establishing trust may be 23andMe’s biggest challenge after last year’s data breach exposed personal information from nearly 7 million customers’ profiles. It doesn’t help that there’s always been confusion among users over the company’s data practices. Customers must give their express consent to share their deidentified genetic data for research purposes, but one survey conducted in 2017 and 2018 by university researchers found that more than 40 percent of customers polled were not aware that using and sharing customer data was part of 23andMe’s business model. When users opted into sharing their data for research, likely many of them didn’t realize that “research” included helping Big Pharma develop new drugs.

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    Emily Mullin

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  • 23andMe Board Resigns: ‘Differences’ With CEO Anne Wojcicki | Entrepreneur

    23andMe Board Resigns: ‘Differences’ With CEO Anne Wojcicki | Entrepreneur

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    Days after proposing to settle a data breach lawsuit for $30 million, 18-year-old genetic testing company 23andMe now faces another public hurdle: Seven independent directors of its board resigned on Tuesday through a pointed letter addressed to CEO Anne Wojcicki, who is now the only remaining member of the board.

    The resigning directors, among whom were YouTube CEO Neal Mohan and Sequoia VC Roelof Botha, called out Wojcicki for not submitting a “fully financed, fully diligenced, actionable 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 that difference and because of your concentrated voting power, we believe that it is in the best interests of the Company’s shareholders that we resign from the Board rather than have a protracted and distracting difference of view with you as to the direction of the Company,” they stated.

    Related: 23andMe DNA Technology Helps Family Find Kidnapped Daughter After 51 Years

    Wojcicki, who co-founded the company in 2006, controls 49% of 23andMe votes. In July, she submitted a proposal to buy all the shares she didn’t already own at $0.40 per share and take the company private. A special committee created by the company rejected her proposal, stating that it wasn’t in the best interests of shareholders.

    Anne Wojcicki. Credit: Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images

    Wojcicki told employees in a memo on Tuesday that she 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.”

    23andMe, which was valued at $6 billion in 2021 shortly after going public, is now a penny stock worth 34 cents per share at the time of writing. The company has until November 4 to bring its stock price up to at least $1 per share or risk being delisted.

    23andMe has faced a number of public setbacks, including a data breach in October that impacted nearly 7 million accounts and appeared to target people with Chinese or Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry. Customers filed a class action lawsuit in January and 23andMe proposed a $30 million settlement earlier this month.

    23andMe’s core product is a $99 ancestry kit that requires a customer to submit their spit in exchange for genetic insights. A $199 kit advertises health predisposition reports. The company is also developing drugs in-house and testing them.

    Related: 23andMe Hackers Selling Stolen User Data, Including DNA Profiles of ‘Celebrities,’ on Dark Web

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    Sherin Shibu

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  • Woman Uncovers Fertility Doctor Scammed Her Parents – But The Biggest SHOCK Was Next… – Perez Hilton

    Woman Uncovers Fertility Doctor Scammed Her Parents – But The Biggest SHOCK Was Next… – Perez Hilton

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    Just in time for Valentine’s Day comes one of the worst dating horror stories ever… and it all started with a DNA test.

    Victoria Hill was concerned about a health issue which was apparently genetic — but was confused when her parents had never had any symptoms. So she got a 23andMe DNA test, and got the second biggest shock of her life. She had a couple dozen siblings she never knew about!

    No, her dad wasn’t an ’80s version of Nick Cannon. It turned out she wasn’t her father’s daughter at all! Her parents had gone to a fertility doctor in the ’80s, and turns out the doc had used his own sperm! ICK! This was not something her mother was aware of — and definitely not something she consented to! Sadly this doctor, a guy named Burton Caldwell, was apparently one of those creeps who used his own sperm for as many pregnancies as he could.

    Related: ’90s Heartthrob Andrew Keegan Was ‘Anointed A Cult Leader’?!

    Victoria learned the shocking truth from some of her newly discovered siblings, who had already put all this together — and found her after her DNA test. There are 22 of them at last count. Crazy. If you’re thinking this story sounds familiar, unfortunately you’re right. There have been several of these doctors who have done this over the years, decided they’d just donate their own genes, whether mothers wanted them or not. So gross.

    CNN found as part of their nationwide investigation that most states, including Connecticut where Victoria is from, don’t even have a law against this fertility fraud, as it’s known. Doctors just get away with it — and often continue practicing even after being caught! Heck, it’s been a known problem so long they did a Law & Order episode about it in the ’90s! Scary stuff…

    But it gets worse. Remember we said that was the second biggest shock of Victoria’s life? And that this was a dating horror story?

    Yeah, unfortunately Victoria learned one of her unknown half-siblings was… her high school boyfriend! Yes, for real! She told CNN:

    “I was traumatized by this. Now I’m looking at pictures of people thinking, well, if he could be my sibling, anybody could be my sibling.”

    Not only did she date this guy for a considerable amount of time, they had a sexual relationship! She slept with her half-brother! And she says she very easily could have married him if things had gone slightly differently! Apparently this is the first documented case of two fertility fraud siblings unknowingly hooking up. But seriously, how the heck is this legal?!

    Learn Victoria’s full story — and more about how common fertility fraud is — HERE!

    [Image via CNN.]

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    Perez Hilton

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  • Hacker stole data of 6.9 million 23andMe customers and then put it up for sale online

    Hacker stole data of 6.9 million 23andMe customers and then put it up for sale online

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    Some 6.9 million 23andMe customers had their data compromised after an anonymous hacker accessed user profiles and posted them for sale on the internet earlier this year, the company said on Monday. The compromised data included user ancestry data as well as, for some users, health-related information based on their genetic profiles.

    The hacker appeared to use what’s known as credential stuffing to access customer accounts, logging into individual 23andMe accounts by using passwords that had been recycled and used for other websites that were previously hacked. The company said there was no evidence of a breach within its own systems. 

    Since the hack, the company announced that it will require two-factor authentication in order to protect against credential-stuffing attacks on the site. 

    Subscribe to Well Adjusted, our newsletter full of simple strategies to work smarter and live better, from the Fortune Well team. Sign up for free today.

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    Kristen V. Brown, Bloomberg

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  • 23andMe says hackers accessed 'significant number' of files about users' ancestry | TechCrunch

    23andMe says hackers accessed 'significant number' of files about users' ancestry | TechCrunch

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    Genetic testing company 23andMe announced on Friday that hackers accessed around 14,000 customer accounts in the company’s recent data breach.

    In a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission published Friday, the company said that, based on its investigation into the incident, it had determined that hackers had accessed 0.1% of its customer base. According to the company’s most recent annual earnings report, 23andMe has “more than 14 million customers worldwide,” which means 0.1% is around 14,000.

    But the company also said that by accessing those accounts, the hackers were also able to access “a significant number of files containing profile information about other users’ ancestry that such users chose to share when opting in to 23andMe’s DNA Relatives feature.”

    The company did not specify what that “significant number” of files is, nor how many of these “other users” were impacted.

    23andMe did not immediately respond to a request for comment, which included questions on those numbers.

    In early October, 23andMe disclosed an incident in which hackers had stolen some users’ data using a common technique known as “credential stuffing,” whereby cybercriminals hack into a victim’s account by using a known password, perhaps leaked due to a data breach on another service.

    The damage, however, did not stop with the customers who had their accounts accessed. 23andMe allows users to opt into a feature called DNA Relatives. If a user opts-in to that feature, 23andMe shares some of that user’s information with others. That means that by accessing one victim’s account, hackers were also able to see the personal data of people connected to that initial victim.

    23andMe said in the filing that for the initial 14,000 users, the stolen data “generally included ancestry information, and, for a subset of those accounts, health-related information based upon the user’s genetics.” For the other subset of users, 23andMe only said that the hackers stole “profile information” and then posted unspecified “certain information” online.

    TechCrunch analyzed the published sets of stolen data by comparing it to known public genealogy records, including websites published by hobbyists and genealogists. Although the sets of data were formatted differently, they contained some of the same unique user and genetic information that matched genealogy records published online years earlier.

    The owner of one genealogy website, for which some of their relatives’ information was exposed in 23andMe’s data breach, told TechCrunch that they have about 5,000 relatives discovered through 23andMe, and said our “correlations might take that into account.”

    News of the data breach surfaced online in October when hackers advertised the alleged data of one million users of Jewish Ashkenazi descent and 100,000 Chinese users on a well-known hacking forum. Roughly two weeks later, the same hacker who advertised the initial stolen user data advertised the alleged records of four million more people. The hacker was trying to sell the data of individual victims for $1 to $10.

    TechCrunch found that another hacker on a different hacking forum had advertised even more allegedly stolen user data two months before the advertisement that was initially reported by news outlets in October. In that first advertisement, the hacker claimed to have 300 terabytes of stolen 23andMe user data, and asked for $50 million to sell the whole database, or between $1,000 and $10,000 for a subset of the data.

    In response to the data breach, on October 10, 23andMe forced users to reset and change their passwords and encouraged them to turn on multi-factor authentication. And on November 6, the company required all users to use two-step verification, according to the new filing.

    After the 23andMe breach, other DNA testing companies Ancestry and MyHeritage started mandating two-factor authentication.

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    Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai

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  • Battle Over Rewards Points, Leaked 23andMe Records, LifeMiles Sweet Spots and More

    Battle Over Rewards Points, Leaked 23andMe Records, LifeMiles Sweet Spots and More

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    News Roundup

    You can stay in touch with us on Facebook/Twitter/Threads, or you can join the discussion in our Facebook Group. You can also subscribe to get all news/deals via one daily email, or choose instant notifications for time sensitive deals. As always, thank you for reading!

    News Roundup

    This is a roundup of news and other interesting pieces that I’ve come across over the last few days. I thought they are worth sharing so I hope you enjoy reading them.

    The Battle Over Rewards Points

    Virtually every travel company has some form of a loyalty program where customers are rewarded for how much they stay, fly and spend. When the programs first began in the late 1970s, earning elite status usually involved a straightforward combination of money spent with the program and actual time spent in the air or in a hotel room. More recently, dollars spent on loyalty credit cards are becoming the primary way for travelers to earn points and, more important, elite status, which can bring numerous perks. ➡️ Read more

    Hacker leaks millions more 23andMe user records

    On Tuesday, a hacker who goes by Golem published a new dataset of 23andMe user information containing records of four million users on the known cybercrime forum BreachForums. He claimed the dataset contains information on people who come from Great Britain, including data from “the wealthiest people living in the U.S. and Western Europe on this list.”. ➡️ Read more

    Credit card users paid nearly $164B in fees, interest in 2022

    American cardholders paid $163.89 billion in credit card interest and fees in 2022, according to a WalletHub analysis of data from the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council. Between 2018 and 2020, such charges were roughly $120 billion per year, according to a report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. ➡️ Read more

    Another crack at the LifeMiles secret code turns up more pricing anomalies

    Avianca LifeMiles presents ample opportunities for excellent value on the largest airline alliance in the world, Star Alliance. Importantly, carrier-imposed surcharges are not passed on. Equally exciting is the fact that frequent transfer bonuses make reasonable awards significantly cheaper and awesome mixed-cabin pricing can save you a ton of points. More importantly yet, Avianca LifeMiles offers unwritten award chart sweet spots that create the opportunity for something of a treasure hunt in finding the best-value awards. ➡️ Read more

    State Department issues ‘worldwide caution’ for Americans overseas

    The U.S. State Department issued a worldwide travel advisory on Thursday, urging Americans overseas to exercise increased caution. The travel advisory cited “increased tensions in various locations around the world, the potential for terrorist attacks, demonstrations or violent actions against U.S. citizens and interests.” ➡️ Read more

    United Cardmembers can help fight global hunger and earn bonus miles

    Chase, Visa and United® are partnering to fight hunger and help feed families around the world. As a thank-you, we’re rewarding United Cardmembers who donate with bonus miles from October 16 to November 30, 2023. ➡️ Read more

    Guru’s Wrap-up

    Let me know if you enjoyed these articles and comment with any opinions you might have. You can also share any other interesting articles about deals, travel, credit cards and more.

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    DDG

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  • Texts From Tucker Carlson That Got Him Fired

    Texts From Tucker Carlson That Got Him Fired

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    “I hate the way you talk to me, And the way you cut your hair. / I hate the way you drive my car, I hate it when you stare. / I hate your big dumb combat boots, and the way you read my mind. / I hate you so much it makes me sick, It even makes me rhyme. / I hate the way you’re always right, I hate it when you lie. / I hate it when you make me laugh, Even worse when you make me cry. / I hate it when you’re not around, And the fact that you didn’t call. / But mostly I hate the way I don’t hate you, Not even close, Not even a little bit, Not even at all.”

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  • ‘Baby Melissa’ Found After 51 Years Through 23andMe DNA Test

    ‘Baby Melissa’ Found After 51 Years Through 23andMe DNA Test

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    Melissa Highsmith went missing in 1971. But after 51 years, she has reunited with her family thanks to a 23andMe DNA test.


    Highsmith Family / Facebook

    Alta Apantenco and daughter Melissa Highsmith.

    “We are beyond thrilled to announce that WE FOUND MELISSA,” biological sister Sharon Rose Highsmith wrote in a post on a Facebook group page related to the case.

    “There are so many details we would like to share, but for now, we would just like to say that we followed a 23 & Me family DNA match that led us to her,” she added.

    According to the family, Melissa Highsmith was kidnapped while being babysat at her home in Texas at just 22 months old. The person who raised Melissa did not tell her how she came to be, according to CBS news.

    “The person that raised me, I asked her, ‘Is there anything you need to tell me?’ and it was confirmed that she knew that I was baby Melissa so that just made it real,” Melissa told the outlet.

    “The joy is palpable amongst all family members, and we invite you to celebrate and rejoice with us,” the family’s statement added.

    The search for Melissa had gone on for 50 years, the family told CBS, but a recent tip — that turned out to be a dud — that she was spotted in North Carolina helped restart the search.

    However, the family did note in their Facebook statement the whole story was not quite public. (Since the discovery, the family has been active on a public Facebook page called Finding Melissa, which they started in 2018.)

    “There are so many details we would like to share,” their statement said but added they would wait to do so for the time being.

    “I just couldn’t believe it. I thought I’d never see her again,” Melissa’s mom, Atla Apantencl, said.

    The Highsmith family credited the DNA testing company, 23andMe, and not the true crime community, police, or other such efforts.

    “Our finding Melissa was purely because of DNA, not because of any police / FBI involvement, podcast involvement, or even our family’s own private investigations or speculations. DNA WINS THIS SEARCH,” Rose Highsmith added in the Facebook post.

    The Fort Worth Police Department said in a statement that even though the statute of limitations has expired, it would continue to investigate the case. They also said the department will conduct official DNA testing.

    The department is “overjoyed to hear about how the Highsmith’s use of 23andme led them to Melissa,” the statement said.

    The person who kidnapped Melissa is not named. It’s not clear who exactly took the DNA test among Melissa and her family members.

    Founded in 2006 by Anne Wojcicki, Linda Avey, and Paul Cusenza. the company offers at-home saliva collection and tests that analyze your DNA for health and heritage data. You can also choose to share your information and find other people to whom you are related.

    The company — and similar ventures like Ancestry.com — have led to other dramatic discoveries, like accomplished memoirist Dani Shapiro discovering her biological father was not the man who raised her, but, rather, someone who donated sperm at a dodgy fertility clinic.

    But these DNA-analyzing companies have also faced criticism for sharing genetic data with other companies and law enforcement. 23andMe did not respond right away to a request for comment.

    Sharon Highsmith added in a press release she hopes the story inspires other people looking for missing relatives.

    “Never give up hope,” she said. “Chase every lead.”

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    Gabrielle Bienasz

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