Entire board of this startup resigned on same day. Founder says saving it is 'absolutely complicated'

In September, all members on the board of San Franciso-based DNA-testing company 23andMe resigned en masse following a month-long battle over co-founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki’s plans to take the company private. The 51-year-old, who controls 49.75 percent of 23andMe's voting rights, is now the only board member left. In a public letter, the board members—which included leaders such as Youtube CEO Neal Mohan, and head of Sequoia Capital Roelof Botha—wrote that while they “wholeheartedly” believed in the company’s mission to personalise health care with genetic data, they disagreed with Wojcicki’s strategic direction.

Now, speaking to Fortune, Wojcicki said that she could maneuver the startup away from the difficult position but admitted that the process is "absolutely complicated”.

Since going public in 2021, 23andMe has never turned a profit, Fortune reported. Its price on IPO day was $10 (Rs 840); so far in 2024, it has yet to reach a $1 (Rs 84) valuation. Following the resignation of all its board members, the stock fell to its rock bottom: $0.30 (Rs 25). Meanwhile, the company’s valuation dropped from $6 billion in 2021, to under $150 million and sales had slowed and a massive data breach triggered privacy fears. Its drug discovery business was also shut down because it was draining the company’s resources. That's when Wojcicki pushed for a plan to buy the company and take it private, but the board rejected her initial proposal, which didn’t offer shareholders a premium.

Since she controlled 49.75 percent of the startup's voting rights, the board was locked in a standoff and eventually resigned, something that is almost unheard of in the startup world.