23andMe

How it happened

23andMe pioneered consumer DNA testing and went public via SPAC in 2021 at a valuation around $6B. A failure to build a sustainable business beyond one-time test kits, a 2023 data breach, and dwindling cash crushed it. It filed for Chapter 11 in March 2025, and co-founder Anne Wojcicki's nonprofit TTAM bought the assets for $305M that July. Glassdoor reviews traced the decline from inside: employees described near-annual layoffs and benefit cuts after the SPAC listing — one reviewer putting cumulative cuts near 40% — and said the business never found a path to profitability. Insiders faulted leadership's whiplashing strategy, and many were predicting collapse well before the filing.

Employee accounts paraphrase anonymous, unverified reviews posted publicly on Glassdoor ↗. See our methodology.