By Robb M. Stewart
23andMe appointed three new independent directors as the DNA-testing company seeks to rebuild its board after sweeping resignations as founder and Chief Executive Anne Wojcicki seeks to take 23andMe private.
The company said Tuesday it has appointed Andre Fernandez, Jim Frankola and Mark Jensen as independent board members. The trio will serve on 23andMe's audit committee and compensation committee. Jansen, who before his retirement in 2012 was an executive at Deloitte & Touche, will take on the role of lead independent director.
With the appointment, 23andMe's board will consist of Wojcicki and the three new members.
All seven of 23andMe's previous independent directors resigned in September following a protracted negotiation with Wojcicki, arguing that despite months of work no "actionable" buyout proposal had been produced. Wojcicki, who controls 49% of 23andMe votes, in April announced plans to buy all 23andMe shares she didn't already own and said the bid would be supported by another buyer. In late July, Wojcicki proposed a buyout price of 40 cents a share, though directors in a letter said the lack of a bid premium and committed financing was disappointing.
Jensen in a statement said the new board members looked forward to working with Wojcicki and the 23andMe management team to position the company for the future. 23andMe, which went public in 2021 via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, hasn't posted a quarterly profit.
Prior to his time at Deloitte, Jensen was chief financial officer at Redleaf Group, as well as an executive at accounting firm Arthur Andersen. Fernandez most recently served as chief financial officer of WeWork, and Frankola most recently served as the finance chief and a strategic adviser at enterprise data cloud company Cloudera.
Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 29, 2024 08:10 ET (12:10 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments