Justin Sullivan / Getty Images News via Getty Images

The breach exposed the genetic and personal information of 6.9 million customers back in 2023. Now a bankruptcy judge has signed off on the payout, though $14.29 million already went out means the new money coming is $32.46 million.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brian Walsh in St. Louis ruled the deal fair and equitable on July 7, clearing the way for money to reach the people whose profile and ancestry data were stolen.

The hack wasn’t a sophisticated break-in. Attackers used passwords leaked from other sites to log into roughly 14,000 accounts between April and September 2023, then pulled data on 6.9 million connected users through the DNA Relatives feature, nearly half the customer base. Exposed information included names, profile photos, birth years, locations, family surnames, grandparents’ birthplaces, ethnicity estimates, haplogroups, and self-written “About” sections. Customers of Chinese and Ashkenazi Jewish heritage were disproportionately hit, and their profiles were highlighted when the data surfaced on dark web forums.

A car passes in front of the 23andMe campus sign in Sunnyvale, California on February 1, 2024, as the genetic testing firm faced mounting class action lawsuits and a potential NASDAQ delisting. Photo by Justin Sullivan / Getty Images.

Most eligible customers get a modest cash payment, around $100 depending on the state, plus 5 years of Privacy and Medical Shield with Genetic Monitoring, a package valued at roughly $1,875 per person. Health Information Claims pay up to $165, and Extraordinary Claims tied to documented identity theft or related harm can reach $10,000, with overall caps. The claims filing window has already closed.

At its 2021 peak, 23andMe was valued at $6 billion. Its assets sold for $305 million last July to TTAM Research Institute, a nonprofit controlled by co-founder Anne Wojcicki, after the company filed for Chapter 11 in March 2025 and Wojcicki resigned as CEO. The settlement is being paid out of the bankruptcy estate of the old entity, now called Chrome Holding Co., not by TTAM.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta addresses a House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee hearing at the U.S. Capitol on November 6, 2025. Photo by Eric Lee / Getty Images.

The legal trouble isn’t over. California Attorney General Rob Bonta is still suing, accusing the company of ignoring warnings that its systems were compromised and downplaying how bad the breach was. He’s warned that bankruptcy court shouldn’t become “a haven for wrongdoers,” and Judge Walsh has yet to rule on a motion to block that state case. A separate suit brought last June by 27 states and the District of Columbia challenges whether 23andMe can sell customer DNA data in bankruptcy at all without express consent from each person.

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