From $6bn to $100m in four years-how did it all unravel for DNA pioneer 23andMe?

The DNA analysis firm 23andMe is a company on the ropes. The one-time leader of the market - valued at $6 billion in 2021 - is now worth less than $100 million, a 99 per cent drop that makes Labour's autumn Budget look like a roaring success.

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Last year, 40 per cent of staff were laid off and there was a mass exodus from the board of directors. Now, potential buyers are circling at the smell of blood and Anne Wojcicki, CEO and founder, is struggling to keep the company's head above water.

How did a successful Silicon Valley start-up-an offspring of the tech boom that produced monolithic companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter suffer such a fall from grace?

Wojcicki co-founded 23andMe in 2006. Along with her ex-husband, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and her sister Susan, the former CEO of You-Tube, Wojcicki quickly became a Silicon Valley power player.

The company's USP was simple but revolutionary: spit into a tube, send off your saliva samples, and receive a detailed DNA analysis just a few weeks later (the process cost £79). It was named Time's Invention of the Year in 2008. With these results, customers could supposedly discover everything from disease risks to far-flung ancestry.