Anne E. Wojcicki ( ; born July 28, 1973) is an American entrepreneur. She is known for co-founding the personal genomics company

23andMe 23andMe Holding Co. is an American personal genomics and biotechnology company based in South San Francisco, California. It is best known for providing a direct-to-consumer genetic testing service in which customers provide a saliva testing, sali ...

Early life and education

Wojcicki was born in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

, the youngest of three sisters: Susan Wojcicki, former CEO of

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

, and Janet Wojcicki, an anthropologist and epidemiologist. Her parents are Esther Wojcicki (née Hochman), an educator and journalist, and Stanley Wojcicki, a Polish-born physics professor

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. The three sisters grew up on Stanford's campus. When she was fourteen, she learned how to

figure skate Figure skates are a type of ice skate used by figure skaters. The skates consist of a ''boot'' and a ''blade'' that is attached with screws to the sole of the boot. Inexpensive sets for recreational skaters are available, but most figure skaters ...

and later started playing

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

. Wojcicki attended Gunn High School in Palo Alto, where she edited the school newspaper, ''The Oracle,'' and won a scholarship for her sports stories. She received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 1996. During her time there she played on the varsity women's ice hockey team. She conducted molecular biology research at the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

and at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

Career

After graduating, Wojcicki worked as a healthcare consultant at Passport Capital, a San Francisco-based investment fund, and at Investor AB. She was a healthcare investment analyst for four years, overseeing

health care Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

investments and focusing on

biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...

companies. Disillusioned by the culture of

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

and its attitude towards health care, she decided to forgo taking the

MCAT The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT; ) is a computer-based standardized examination for prospective medical students in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the Caribbean Islands. It is designed to assess problem solving, critical ...

to enroll in medical school and instead decided to focus on biological research.

23andMe

Wojcicki co-founded and was CEO of

, a direct-to-consumer DNA testing company that allowed consumers to analyze their ancestry and health risks. She founded the company in 2006, with

Linda Avey Linda Avey (née Bahnson) is an American biologist and entrepreneur. She is known for co-founding 23andMe, a consumer genetic data company. Early life Avey was born Linda Bahnson in 1960, in South Dakota, United States. She attended Augustan ...

and Paul Cusenza, intending to provide common people access to their genetic information, which could potentially provide information on cures for diseases or treatments. Consumers could purchase testing kits that provided information on ancestry, health, and genetic traits. The company took saliva samples that were mailed in by buyers, and processed the genetic data, posting the results online for the buyer to view. The company was 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. Beginning in 2015, the

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...

started to give approval to 23andMe's health-related tests, including risk from

cystic fibrosis Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disorder inherited in an autosomal recessive manner that impairs the normal clearance of Sputum, mucus from the lungs, which facilitates the colonization and infection of the lungs by bacteria, notably ''Staphy ...

sickle cell anemia Sickle cell disease (SCD), also simply called sickle cell, is a group of inherited haemoglobin-related blood disorders. The most common type is known as sickle cell anemia. Sickle cell anemia results in an abnormality in the oxygen-carrying ...

, certain

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

Alzheimer's Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

, Parkinson's, and

coeliac disease Coeliac disease (British English) or celiac disease (American English) is a long-term autoimmune disorder, primarily affecting the small intestine. Patients develop intolerance to gluten, which is present in foods such as wheat, rye, spelt ...

. In 2018, 23andMe entered into a four-year collaboration with

GlaxoSmithKline GSK plc (an acronym from its former name GlaxoSmithKline plc) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with headquarters in London. It was established in 2000 by a Mergers an ...

to develop new medicines. When Wojcicki took 23andMe

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

through a merger with a

special-purpose acquisition company A special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC; ), also known as a blank check company or a blind-pool stock offering, is a shell corporation listed on a stock exchange with the purpose of acquiring (or merging with) a private company, thus taking ...

in 2021, ''Forbes'' dubbed her the "newest self-made billionaire." By 2024, the company's valuation had fallen to two percent of its peak value of $6 billion, 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. On March 24, 2025, it was reported that 23andMe had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and Wojcicki had resigned as CEO effective immediately but would remain on the company’s board. On June 13, 2025, Wojcicki regained control of 23andMe through a $305 million deal, buying back nearly all of the company's assets.

Other business activities

Wojcicki is a member of the Xconomists, an ad hoc team of editorial advisors for the tech news and media company

Xconomy Xconomy was a media company providing news on business, life sciences, and technology{{cite web , title=Company Overview of Xconomy, Inc. , url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=36215051 , publisher=Bloomberg ...

. In October 2013, ''

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is an American business magazine published monthly in print and online, focusing on technology, business, and design. It releases six print issues annually. History ''Fast Company'' was founded in November 1995 by Alan Webb ...

'' dubbed Wojcicki "The Most Daring CEO in America". She is a co-founder and board member of the Breakthrough Prize. She was ranked 93rd in ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'''s 2020 list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women. In August 2021 Wojcicki joined the board of

Cazoo Cazoo is a British automotive online marketplace and classified advertising business based in Richmond, London, Richmond, London. Cazoo is currently owned by MOTORS, following its acquisition from Cazoo Holdings Limited by O3 Industries and Novum ...

. Wojcicki has been closely involved in the downtown business district of

Los Altos, California Los Altos (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Heights") is a city in Santa Clara County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 31,625 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Most of the city's growth ...

. In approximately 2005, Wojcicki and her then-husband Google co-founder

Sergey Brin Sergey Mikhailovich Brin (; born August 21, 1973) is an American computer scientist and businessman who co-founded Google with Larry Page. He was the president of Google's parent company, Alphabet Inc., until stepping down from the role on D ...

bought at least half a dozen commercial properties in downtown Los Altos. 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. The initiative expanded to include an arts-and crafts store, a video arcade, and an indoor play space. The focus of development was to create spaces that foster community interaction and enjoyment.

Personal life

Wojcicki married

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

co-founder Sergey Brin in May 2007. They have a son, born in 2008, and a daughter born in late 2011. They separated in 2013, and divorced in 2015. Brin and Wojcicki jointly run the Brin Wojcicki Foundation. They have donated extensively to the Michael J. Fox Foundation and in 2009, gave $1 million to support the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. She joined

The Giving Pledge The Giving Pledge is a charitable campaign, founded by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, to encourage wealthy people to contribute a majority (i.e. more than 50%) of their wealth to philanthropic causes. , the pledge has had 236 signatories from 28 ...

in 2022, committing to donating most of her wealth. In July 2019, Wojcicki gave birth to her third child, a daughter, through

sperm donation Sperm donation is the provision by a man of his sperm with the intention that it be used in the artificial insemination or other "fertility treatment" of one or more women who are not his sexual partners in order that they may become pregnant by h ...

. Her grandfather Franciszek Wójcicki was a People's Party and

Polish People's Party The Polish People's Party (, PSL) is a conservative political party in Poland. It is currently led by Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. Its history traces back to 1895, when it held the name People's Party, although its name was changed to the pre ...

politician who was elected MP during the

1947 Polish legislative election Parliamentary elections were held in Poland on 19 January 1947,Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1491 the first since World War II. According to the official results, the Democratic Bloc (Poland), D ...

. Her grandmother, Janina Wójcicka Hoskins, was a Polish-American librarian at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

who was responsible for building the largest collection of Polish material in the United States.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wojcicki, Anne 1973 births American people of Polish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent American technology company founders People from San Mateo County, California American women company founders Yale Bulldogs women's ice hockey players 21st-century American philanthropists Businesspeople from Palo Alto, California American health care businesspeople People from Los Altos Hills, California Y Combinator people 21st-century American biologists Gunn High School alumni 21st-century American women scientists Living people Wojcicki family 21st-century American businesswomen 21st-century American women philanthropists