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Independent directors of 23andMe resign from board

investors.23andme.com

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Re: Independent directors of 23andMe resign from board

#331

Post by vintermann »

Simon_ORourke wrote: post #171
bruceb wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Closest competitor does a lot of heavy lifting in this situation. Ancestry is the overwhelming leader in the find long lost relative space/your "roots" space. Look at https://www.ancestry.com/ and https://www.23andme.com/ 23andme has basically given up on this part of the business. Their pitch is health. But that pitch is murky with no good hook to keep you hooked for a monthly subscription. So after they get the ini…

> leader in the find long lost relative space/your "roots" space. Acknowledging Ancestry.com are well ahead of the market here, but I never got their appeal of finding some long-lost second cousins... basically strangers, and saying, "hey, isn't it fascinating that we share some arbitrary level of common genetic makeup". If some randomer reached out via email to me doing this big reveal I'd be "thanks, but into the s…

Not everyone is interested in genealogy, that's up to them, but to those of us who are, finding an unknown nth cousin may be worth a lot to untangle the lives of our ancestors, write the stories of our families, and find out where we come from, in a far wider sense than merely the genetic one.

But Ancestry is a roach motel. Of all sites that sell user-contributed data back to their users, and they're all scummy, I don't know any which are more scummy than Ancestry and MyHeritage.

Re: Independent directors of 23andMe resign from board

#332

Post by sdwvit »

throwawayffffas wrote: post #86
brookst wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To complete the data, the company is trading at $0.34/share, so while $0.40 is a bit lower than the typical 20% premium (~$0.41), I'm not sure it counts as "lowball". It's a typical premium over market cap. Is there any reason to think the company is worth $4.7B or whatever ($9.30/share)? If so the stock is a steal at its current price and we should all buy lots. But can the market be THAT wrong?

The resignation implication is that the CEO is running the company to the ground. The comment further implies this is on purpose in order to buy the company cheaply.

I have Nokia flashbacks

Re: Independent directors of 23andMe resign from board

#333

Post by vintermann »

brookst wrote: post #232
throwawayffffas wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The resignation implication is that the CEO is running the company to the ground. The comment further implies this is on purpose in order to buy the company cheaply.

Since CEOs typically own a lot of stock and are compensated for performance, doesn’t that seem like a strange theory? Intentionally destroying a company you run and own shares in so you can buy more shares seems like a really complicated and high risk strategy compared to just running it well, making a fortune, and getting an even bigger CEO gig.

Honestly, it would be more surprising to me if this sort of thing never happened. In politics it happens fairly regularly (entryism, agent provocateurs etc.) so why wouldn't it happen in business? It would take even less coordination, all it would take is a bit of personal loyalty between top leaders which - shock and horror! - didn't disappear when one of them changed company.

Re: Independent directors of 23andMe resign from board

#334

Post by gojomo »

brookst wrote: post #232
throwawayffffas wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The resignation implication is that the CEO is running the company to the ground. The comment further implies this is on purpose in order to buy the company cheaply.

Since CEOs typically own a lot of stock and are compensated for performance, doesn’t that seem like a strange theory? Intentionally destroying a company you run and own shares in so you can buy more shares seems like a really complicated and high risk strategy compared to just running it well, making a fortune, and getting an even bigger CEO gig.

I don't think you're properly modeling a truly ambitious person whose basic needs are already fully-met for life.

Anne Wojicki is already sufficiently wealthy – net worth $150m+? – that maybe what really interests her is playing hardball for (say) $10B+ instead of just a few hundred million more? Or for the control & glory of shepherding forward some breakthrough cancer treatments that the other investors might simply treat as financial options to sell early?

And, perhaps she's got the votes & de facto IP control & legal budget to think she's got a good chance of winning, and even a loss can't cut her out?

Isn't this just bare-knuckle "founder mode"?

Re: Independent directors of 23andMe resign from board

#335

Post by itishappy »

kelnos wrote: post #218
noirbot wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know it's not exactly the point, but the answer is you always have a lawyer if you're being questioned by the police, especially if you're not the one who called them. This is in no way specific to any DNA related situation. If any law enforcement shows up and has questions for you, you say nothing until you have a lawyer with you.

Lawyers are expensive. Most people can't afford one for even one encounter with the police, let alone multiple.

Pleading the 5th is free.

Re: Independent directors of 23andMe resign from board

#336

Post by acureau »

snapcaster wrote: post #248
dekhn wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I took an alternate approach: my genome is freely available: https://my.pgp-hms.org/profile/hu80855C When I was sequenced, a bunch of genetic counselors at Illumina analyzed it and said they couldn't find a single gene mutation that was linked to increased risk of disease, which was a surprise to me but is really absence of information rather than information of absence.

This is very unethical and you should be ashamed of yourself. You leaked 50% of your direct relatives here, 50% of any future or current children you have. Did you ask them for consent?

Even assuming you had a point, which I don't believe you do, it wouldn't be your place to decide this.

Re: Independent directors of 23andMe resign from board

#337

Post by fph »

bruceb wrote: post #77
LarsDu88 wrote: post #2

Literally just one day after 23andMe presented positive phase 2 clinical results for two anti-cancer drugs: https://therapeutics.23andme.com/news-and-research/ The board of directors of 23andMe just resigned in protest. The CEO, Anne Wojcicki (who's sister Susan died of lung cancer last month, and was the former CEO of YouTube) had tried to low ball take the company private at only $0.40 a share -- a more than 96% dr…

Closest competitor does a lot of heavy lifting in this situation. Ancestry is the overwhelming leader in the find long lost relative space/your "roots" space. Look at https://www.ancestry.com/ and https://www.23andme.com/ 23andme has basically given up on this part of the business. Their pitch is health. But that pitch is murky with no good hook to keep you hooked for a monthly subscription. So after they get the ini…

It's sad that we have come to a point where people frown upon a company that makes a product and sells it, without luring their customers in with monthly subscriptions.

Re: Independent directors of 23andMe resign from board

#338

Post by aanet »

This would make for a great case study in corporate governance.

I hope someone is writing a book on _Corporate Governance in Silicon Valley_, and include stories from, say, 23andMe, OpenAI, WeWork, Uber, and tons more. I'd pay $$ to read 'em all in one place.

/sarc

Re: Independent directors of 23andMe resign from board

#339

Post by gerdesj »

sandos wrote: post #243
gerdesj wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I run a small web server for a dataset we call the "BIGFAM" - Geneweb with a proxy on the front. It has >120,000 individuals in it. In places it is not so much a tree as a thicket! That data is hard fought and won by a relative who conducts meticulous research as a hobby. They've been at it for a good 20 odd years now.

Im trying, really trying to understand what BIGFAM is about. Is it related to gut biome, and what the bacteria eats, and trying to find the genes for that? Or am I completely lost.

Its part of the filename (short for Big Family) that we use to transfer the data via GEDCOM from The Master Genealogist (TMG) to Geneweb.

Re: Independent directors of 23andMe resign from board

#340

Post by noirbot »

cryptonector wrote: post #324
noirbot wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know it's not exactly the point, but the answer is you always have a lawyer if you're being questioned by the police, especially if you're not the one who called them. This is in no way specific to any DNA related situation. If any law enforcement shows up and has questions for you, you say nothing until you have a lawyer with you.

Police (in the U.S. anyways) are allowed to use ruses almost without limits, so you might not even know you're being interrogated, and your answers can be used against you (and only against you -- never to exculpate you!) in a court of law. IMO the hearsay rule is way too biased in favor of the government. Worse! Say you know it's police asking you questions, and the questions are all very harmless, so you answer the…

I mean, assume any time you're talking with the police, you're being interrogated. If you called them yourself for something, then you've decided to take that risk, but that's also a situation where you're less likely to be in trouble yourself, though there's still a risk.
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