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Anne Wojcicki

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Anne Wojcicki
Wojcicki in 2017
Born (1973-07-28) July 28, 1973 (age 51)
Palo Alto, California, U.S.
EducationYale University (BS)
Known forCo-founder and CEO of 23andMe
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2007; div. 2015)​
Children3[1]
Parents
Relatives

Anne E. Wojcicki (/wuːˈtʃɪtski/ woo-CHITS-kee;[2] born July 28, 1973) is an American entrepreneur who co-founded and is CEO of the personal genomics company 23andMe. She founded the company in 2006 with Linda Avey and Paul Cusenza. She is a co-founder and board member of the Breakthrough Prize.

Early life and education

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Wojcicki was born in Palo Alto, California, the youngest of three sisters: Susan Wojcicki, former CEO of YouTube,[3] and Janet Wojcicki, an anthropologist and epidemiologist.[4] Her maternal grandparents were Russian Jewish immigrants. Her parents are Esther Wojcicki (née Hochman), an educator and journalist, and Stanley Wojcicki, a Polish-born physics professor emeritus at Stanford University. The three sisters grew up on Stanford's campus.[3] When she was fourteen, she learned how to figure skate and later started playing ice hockey.[5]

Wojcicki attended Gunn High School in Palo Alto, where she edited the school newspaper, The Oracle, and won a scholarship for her sports stories.[4][6] She received a Bachelor of Science in biology at Yale University in 1996. During her time there she played on the varsity women's ice hockey team.[7][8][9] She conducted molecular biology research at the National Institutes of Health and at the University of California, San Diego.[6]

Career

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After graduating, Wojcicki worked as a healthcare consultant at Passport Capital, a San Francisco-based investment fund[6] and Investor AB.[5] She was a healthcare investment analyst[7] for four years, overseeing health care investments and focusing on biotechnology companies. Disillusioned by the culture of Wall Street and its attitude towards health care,[10] she decided to forgo taking the MCAT to enroll in medical school and instead decided to focus on biological research.[5]

Wojcicki is a member of the Xconomists, an ad hoc team of editorial advisors for the tech news and media company Xconomy.[11] In October 2013, Fast Company named Wojcicki "The Most Daring CEO".[5][12] She is a co-founder and board member of the Breakthrough Prize.[13] As of 2020, she is listed as number 93 in Forbes list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women.[14] In August 2021 Wojcicki joined the board of Cazoo.[15]

Wojcicki has been closely involved in the downtown business district of Los Altos, California. In approximately 2005, Wojcicki and her then husband Sergey Brin bought at least half a dozen commercial properties in downtown Los Altos.[16] Under the name of Passerelle Investment Company, they sponsored events and urban planning initiatives throughout the downtown business district. In 2016, the firm was renamed to Los Altos Community Investments and given a tighter focus on commercial real-estate development. In 2021, Los Altos Community Investments opened a food hall in downtown Los Altos called the State Street Market.[17]

23andMe

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Wojcicki co-founded and is CEO of 23andMe, a direct-to-consumer DNA testing company that allows consumers to test for ancestry and health risks.[7][18] She founded the company in 2006, with Linda Avey and Paul Cusenza, intending to provide common people access to their genetic information, which could further provide information on cures for diseases or treatments , especially with the help of GSK plc and their $300 million investment.[18][19] Wojcicki has expressed interest in "revolutioniz[ing] health care" with DNA testing,[18] as it could provide consumers with enough information to predict potential genetic illnesses.

Consumers can purchase testing kits that provide information on ancestry, health, and genetic traits. The company takes saliva samples that are mailed in by buyers, and processes the genetic data, posting the results online for the buyer to view.[20]

The company is named for the 23 pairs of chromosomes in a normal human cell. The company's genome test kit was named "Invention of the Year" by Time magazine in 2008.[21] Beginning in 2015, the Food and Drug Administration started to give approval to 23andMe's health-related tests, including risk from cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia, certain cancers, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and coeliac disease.[22][23] In 2018, 23andMe entered into a four-year collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline to develop new medicines.[24][18]

When Wojcicki took 23andMe public through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company in 2021, Forbes dubbed her the "newest self-made billionaire."[25] By 2024, the company's valuation had fallen to 2 percent of its peak value of $6 billion,[26] prompting Wojcicki to make a buyout offer to take the company private; the company's board of directors rejected her proposal and all seven independent directors quit.[27][28]

Personal life

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Wojcicki married Google co-founder Sergey Brin in May 2007.[7] They have a son, born in 2008, and a daughter born in late 2011.[29] They separated in 2013,[30] and divorced in 2015.[31] Brin and Wojcicki jointly run the Brin Wojcicki Foundation.[32] They have donated extensively to the Michael J. Fox Foundation and in 2009, gave $1 million to support the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.[33] She joined The Giving Pledge in 2022, committing to donating most of her wealth.[34] In July 2019, Wojcicki gave birth to her third child, a daughter, through sperm donation.[35][36]

Her grandfather Franciszek Wójcicki, was a People's Party and Polish People's Party politician who was elected MP during the 1947 Polish legislative election.[37] Her grandmother, Janina Wójcicka Hoskins, was a Polish-American librarian at the Library of Congress who was responsible for building the largest collection of Polish material[clarification needed] in the United States.[38]

References

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  1. ^ "Who is Anne Wojcicki CEO of 23andMe and Ex-Wife of Sergey Brin, Biography, Age, Parents, Husband, New Baby, Children, Education, Foundation, Net Worth 2022, Instagram". 25 July 2022.
  2. ^ "Elle X Klossy | Episode 1 | Anne Wojcicki Founder of 23andMe". YouTube. February 9, 2016. Archived from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Clifford, Catherine (June 18, 2018). "How Anne and Susan Wojcicki's parents raised the founder of 23andMe and the CEO of YouTube". CNBC. Archived from the original on January 3, 2020.
  4. ^ a b Sellers, Patricia (February 1, 2012). "Before Google, the Wojcicki girls learned from Mom". Fortune Magazine. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  5. ^ a b c d Murphy, Elizabeth (October 14, 2013). "Inside 23andMe Founder Anne Wojcicki's $99 DNA Revolution". The Fast Company. Archived from the original on October 3, 2014. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  6. ^ a b c Duke, Scott (May 16, 2007). "Google co-founder Sergey Brin gets hitched in the Bahamas". San Jose Mercury News. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  7. ^ a b c d Hafner, Katie (May 29, 2007). "Silicon Valley Wide-Eyed Over a Bride". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 18, 2012. Retrieved July 2, 2013. Anne Wojcicki, the 33-year-old former health care investment analyst who this month married a handsome young computer scientist..
  8. ^ "100 Marathons' Worth of Miles Awaits Sam Fox '09 in Charitable Effort for Parkinson's". August 4, 2011. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  9. ^ 23andMe. "board members". Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved October 17, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Cha, Ariana Eunjung (June 27, 2014). "23andMe co-founder Anne Wojcicki's Washington charm offensive". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  11. ^ "About Our Mission, Team, and Editorial Ethics". Xconomy. Archived from the original on January 3, 2018. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  12. ^ 23andMe (October 19, 2013). "CEO Anne Wojcicki named "The Most Daring CEO in America" by @FastCompany Read the cover story". Twitter. Archived from the original on January 29, 2015. Retrieved October 4, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ "Breakthrough Prize – Board". breakthroughprize.org. Archived from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  14. ^ "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women". Forbes. Archived from the original on September 20, 2017. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  15. ^ Jones, Callum (28 August 2021). "Cazoo accelerates on market debut". The Times. Retrieved 29 October 2021. 
  16. ^ "Wife of Google co-founder acknowledges role in downtown Los Altos remake". The Mercury News. 2014-07-17. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  17. ^ Kadvany, Elena (2021-09-07). "What to know about the Peninsula's splashy new food hall, opening today". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  18. ^ a b c d "Glaxo invests $300m in 23andMe to use its genomic data for research - BioNews". www.bionews.org.uk. 27 July 2018. Archived from the original on April 10, 2019. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  19. ^ 23andMe. "corporate info". Archived from the original on November 13, 2012. Retrieved October 17, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  20. ^ 23andMe. "DNA Genetic Testing & Analysis - 23andMe". www.23andme.com. Archived from the original on December 1, 2020. Retrieved December 2, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ Hamilton, Anita (October 29, 2008). "Best Inventions of 2008". Content Time. Archived from the original on March 13, 2012. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  22. ^ Silverberg, David (December 3, 2018). "Good genes? The sisters who put the rest of us to shame". Archived from the original on April 12, 2019. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  23. ^ Johnson, Eric (October 20, 2018). "23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki says 'one of our biggest competitors' is fake science on sites like Goop". Recode. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  24. ^ Herper, Matthew. "23andMe Gets $300 Million Boost From GlaxoSmithKline To Develop New Drugs". Forbes. Archived from the original on June 15, 2019. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  25. ^ Rosenbaum, Leah (June 17, 2021). "23andMe's Anne Wojcicki Becomes Newest Self-Made Billionaire After SPAC Deal With Sir Richard Branson". Forbes.
  26. ^ Winkler, Rolfe (31 January 2024). "23andMe's Fall From $6 Billion to Nearly $0". The Wall Street Journal.
  27. ^ "Genetic testing firm 23andMe rejects CEO's take-private offer". Reuters. August 2, 2024.
  28. ^ Winkler, Rolfe (18 September 2024). "23andMe Board Resigns in New Blow to DNA-Testing Company". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  29. ^ Welch, Liz (May 29, 2012). "The Way I Work: Anne Wojcicki, 23andMe". Inc. Archived from the original on March 1, 2013. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
  30. ^ Gannes, Liz (August 28, 2013). "Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin and 23andMe Co-Founder Anne Wojcicki Have Split". All Things Digital. Archived from the original on September 7, 2013. Retrieved September 7, 2013.
  31. ^ Lorenzetti, Laura (June 24, 2015). "Google's Sergey Brin and 23andMe's Anne Wojcicki legally divorced". Fortune. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  32. ^ "Dynamodata". Archived from the original on September 26, 2013.
  33. ^ Strom, Stephanie (October 24, 2009). "Billionaire Aids Charity That Aided Him". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 31, 2018. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  34. ^ Why have only 5 billionaires signed up for the Giving Pledge this year? South China Morning Post October 30, 2022.
  35. ^ Thomson, Alice (January 27, 2020). "Anne Wojcicki interview: how the gene queen chose her sperm donor". The Times.
  36. ^ Hartmans, Avery; Biron, Bethany; Varanasi, Lakshmi (February 18, 2023). "Meet Anne Wojcicki: the sister of departing YouTube CEO, Susan Wojcicki, and a self-made multimillionaire who founded the genetic testing giant 23andMe". Business Insider.
  37. ^ "Oficjalna strona Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej / Aktualności / Wydarzenia / Prezydent spotkał się z prezes YouTube". www.prezydent.pl. 28 March 2017. Archived from the original on March 29, 2019. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  38. ^ Zalewski, Wojciech (October 1, 2011). "Janina Wójcicka Hoskins (1912–1996): Portrait of an Esteemed Librarian". Slavic & East European Information Resources. 12 (4): 224–236. doi:10.1080/15228886.2011.623117. ISSN 1522-8886. S2CID 144135260.
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