- 23andMe stated it appointed three new impartial administrators to its board on Monday.
- All seven of 23andMe’s earlier administrators resigned in September over its “strategic course.”
23andMe has appointed three new impartial administrators to its board following the mass resignation of all seven of its earlier members final month.
The biotech firm stated in an SEC submitting that Andre Fernandez, Mark Jensen, and Jim Frankola had joined the board on Monday. All three appointees will serve on the board’s audit and compensation committees.
Fernandez beforehand labored as WeWork’s chief monetary officer from 2022 to 2023. Jensen was a managing accomplice at consulting agency Deloitte for 10 years earlier than his retirement in 2012. Frankola labored as chief monetary officer at Cloudera, an American information cloud firm, from 2012 to 2021 earlier than changing into a strategic advisor from 2021 to 2023.
The board’s solely different member is CEO and cofounder Anne Wojcicki.
“I’m excited to welcome these three skilled administrators to the 23andMe Board, and searching ahead to working with them,” Wojcicki stated in a press launch.
Once valued at $6 billion, 23andMe has confronted a number of obstacles not too long ago, together with a big person information leak in 2023, declining inventory values, and client privateness considerations.
The seven earlier board members resigned in September in a letter addressed to Wojcicki, citing the corporate’s course.
Wojcicki shared a proposal to take 23andMe personal in a July SEC submitting, which was reviewed by a particular committee shaped by the board of administrators. The particular committee responded lower than per week later, writing they had been “disillusioned” within the proposal.
“Our expectation after months of labor was that you’d submit a fully-financed, fully-diligenced, actionable proposal that’s in one of the best pursuits of the non-affiliated shareholders,” the letter learn.
The particular committee stated it will give Wojcikci time to submit a revised proposal. However, the committee stated it had not obtained the revised proposal within the September resignation letter.
“While we proceed to wholeheartedly assist the Company’s mission and consider deeply within the worth of the customized well being and wellness providing that you’ve got articulated, it’s also clear that we differ on the strategic course for the Company going ahead,” the letter learn.
In an announcement after his appointment, Jensen stated the brand new board was “able to dig in” and “act with urgency” to show issues round on the firm.
“23andMe has an excellent model, and the Company stays firmly dedicated to its mission of serving to individuals entry, perceive and profit from the human genome,” he stated.
Each new director will obtain $1 million in money compensation, in line with the SEC submitting.
Representatives for 23andMe didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from Business Insider.
