23andMe files for bankruptcy to sell itself
reuters.com
23andMe files for bankruptcy to sell itself
1–10 of 426 posts
Re: 23andMe files for bankruptcy to sell itself
#2So how does this work in the US?
I thought companies in bankruptcy will be broken apart and its assets sold piecemeal. Can anyone who buy this out of auction get in one piece and debt-free?
Re: 23andMe files for bankruptcy to sell itself
#3So how does this work in the US? I thought companies in bankruptcy will be broken apart and its assets sold piecemeal. Can anyone who buy this out of auction get in one piece and debt-free?
There are two types of corporate bankruptcy, chapter 7 and 11. Chapter 7 is what you are probably thinking about. Chapter 11 allows for “rehabilitation”, ie. negotiating debt, discharging some, and setting up a plan to get out of bankruptcy
Most of the times when you see the news reporting about prominent/public US companies filing for bankruptcy, it’s chapter 11. Which is also the case here with 23andme
In chapter 7, there is no rehabilitation, the whole company is handed over to a trustee, who is in charge of selling the assets (or abandoning them), and paying back the stakeholders
Re: 23andMe files for bankruptcy to sell itself
#4So how does this work in the US? I thought companies in bankruptcy will be broken apart and its assets sold piecemeal. Can anyone who buy this out of auction get in one piece and debt-free?
It really depends on how the people in charge of the bankruptcy, I'd assume preference is to sell the whole business unless it's not viable to do so, then it'd be broken into parts. Breaking into parts makes more sense when the company has several lines of unrelated business, in this case, it's basically one business so breaking it up wouldn't garner more money.
Re: 23andMe files for bankruptcy to sell itself
#5Already downloaded and deleted my data. It’s so wild that some new buyer could just buy peoples’ genetic data at a fire sale.
Re: 23andMe files for bankruptcy to sell itself
#6This is unfortunate news for anyone whose data is now one of the assets to be sold to the highest bidder.
Re: 23andMe files for bankruptcy to sell itself
#7So how does this work in the US? I thought companies in bankruptcy will be broken apart and its assets sold piecemeal. Can anyone who buy this out of auction get in one piece and debt-free?
This is chapter 11 bankruptcy, which is basically a way to say "We can't afford to pay our debts, but perhaps we can all come to an arrangement". It puts the courts in a position of oversight so any unreasonable parties can be worked with.
In other countries this may be referred to as voluntary administration, though the exact details of what it all means varies from country to country and I'm not a bankruptcy lawyer.
Re: 23andMe files for bankruptcy to sell itself
#8Damn, on Friday, the California DoJ Attorney General issued a warning to consumers about their data:
https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bont...
This should've been a giveaway that the company was imminently going to go under.
Re: 23andMe files for bankruptcy to sell itself
#9This is unfortunate news for anyone whose data is now one of the assets to be sold to the highest bidder.
Honestly it's always seemed completely insane to me that people signed up for these services.
Possible Pros: You find out you are 20% Norwegian! Fun!
Possible Cons: Grandma is going to prison for an unsolved crime. Assume a non-threatening position and comply with all orders of the new Department of Racial Purity. Also, that's not your real Dad.
Re: 23andMe files for bankruptcy to sell itself
#10Just deleted my data. Who knows who will own it after this?