The 2020 Makers Conference in Los Angeles, California, U.S. will feature a speech by Anne Wojcicki, chief executive officer and co-founder of 23andMe Inc.
2020
Since 23andMe's stock market debut, it has been a rough ride. In June, the genetics testing firm went public via a merger with a special acquisition company led by the U.K. billionaire Richard Branson. The months since have been marked by stock volatility, as is the case for many companies trying to take advantage of the SPAC boom.
Anne Wojcicki, the company's largest shareholder, has seen her fortune decrease since the merger. When the company she founded, known primarily for its DNA testing kits, went public on the stock market, its shares rose 21% to $13.32, making her a billionaire. She had 99.4 million shares that were worth about $1 billion at the time. The 2.5 million shares of 23andMe purchased by the Anne Wojcicki Foundation are not included in the Forbes estimates.
Less than six months later, her net worth has fallen by more than $450 million, with her 23andMe stake valued at just over $860 million. Even though the drop is small, Wojcicki may still be a billionaire. It is not known how much she walked away with from her divorce from Brin, who is the sixth richest person in the world. According to Fortune, she has backed a total of 14 female-founded companies. Forbes asked (23andMe) questions.
The younger sister of Susan Wojcicki worked as a Wall Street analyst before starting 23andMe with Linda Avey and Paul Cusenza. They launched their first product, a personal genetics test, with the goal of opening up people's access to their genetic information, and eventually inform cures and treatments. After a long FDA block on its health tests, 23andMe began gaining real traction after it was given the agency's green light in 2015.
With more than 11 million DNA testing kits sold to date, the company has turned its attention to using the large amount of data gathered from customers for its desired transition from genetic testing to drug development. 23andMe entered its first human clinical trial for a drug targeting brain tumors in July of last year, after signing deals with Spanish pharmaceutical company Almirall and British multinational company, Glaxosmithkline. The completion of the acquisition of Lemonaid Health was announced earlier this month.
23andMe has struggled with revenues and losses. In January 2020, it cut 100 employees, or 14 percent of its staff, and saw its revenue fall 30% in the year ending March 2020, to $305 million, down from $441 million the previous year, according to company documents. The company posted a net loss of $59 million on revenues of $114 million in the first six months of the year. Revenue growth dropped to 7% in the second quarter from 23% in the first, as well as big spending on research and development for 23andMe's burgeoning therapeutic business.
The genetics testing firm revealed its plan to go public via SPAC in the midst of these dueling forces. During the Covid-19 epidemic, the use of SPACs took off as an easier alternative to traditional IPOs and a relatively low-risk way for SPAC sponsors to make money. Excluding health-related companies like Sharecare and Hims, 442 companies have gone public via SPAC so far this year, raising $108 billion. The SPAC boom has cooled as many of the deals proved to bring only short-term success and dramatic declines. A study published by The Wall Street Journal in September found that a group of SPACs that closed mergers in February wiped out $75 billion in market value.
The tumult has hit 23andMe. After the sharp increase in its IPO price, shares fell 45% in the following weeks to a low of $7.29 per share on August 16. After the news of the Lemonaid Health acquisition, they bounced back in October, but then plummeted after the second quarter results were released.
There are other high-profile female entrepreneurs who have taken a hit this year, and they are not the only ones. Whitney Wolfe Herd, who was crowned the world's youngest self-made woman billionaire when her company went public in February, saw her fortune drop below $1 billion this week after a 26% decline in Bumble shares. Half of the companies that raised more than $1 billion at IPOs this year are trading below their listing prices, despite strong stock market performances and a surge in IPOs, according to a Financial Times analysis.
