Silicon Valley Wide-Eyed Over a Bride

By KATIE HAFNER
Published: May 29, 2007
Sometimes good fortune arrives in fairytale-like flurries.

Consider Anne Wojcicki, the 33-year-old former health care investment analyst who this month married a handsome young computer scientist, who just happens to be one of America’s richest men.

As if the swirl of excitement around the Silicon Valley pairing of Ms. Wojcicki and Sergey Brin, a co-founder of Google, were not enough, Ms. Wojcicki has captured still more attention with a biotech company she recently co-founded, 23andMe. And her husband’s company is an investor.

Google disclosed last week in a regulatory filing that it has invested $3.9 million in 23andMe, a start-up that, according to its Web site, is developing ways “to help you make sense of your own genetic information.” The company’s name refers to the number of paired chromosomes in human DNA.

In an interview, Google’s chief executive, Eric E. Schmidt, declined to comment about 23andMe’s business or its future products, but he said that in the course of evaluating the potential investment, the company had instituted an array of checks and balances to ensure objectivity, including the recusal of Mr. Brin from any discussions.

“That was all done by the book beyond belief,” Mr. Schmidt said.

Google has invested in a handful of other start-ups, including FON and Meraki, both Wi-Fi start-ups, and Current, a company that delivers high-speed Internet access using existing power outlets.

Jon Murchinson, a Google spokesman, said that aside from 23andMe, none of the investments involved companies owned by a close relative of a senior Google executive.

Mr. Schmidt said that the Google investment in 23andMe would eventually benefit Google and its users.

Ms. Wojcicki (pronounced Wo-JIT-skee), and her 23andMe co-founder, Linda Avey, 47, declined to be interviewed at this stage in the company’s development.

23andMe, with headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., is based on the concept of individualized genetic mapping. “What used to cost billions now costs only $1,000,” Martin Varsavsky, an entrepreneur who has invested in the company, wrote recently in his blog. “So for the price of a laptop you can now learn the most intimate details of your genetic self.”

Mr. Varsavsky wrote that as medicine advanced, those who have had their genes mapped could be notified of developments concerning their own genes, including news of relevant drug discoveries.

Then there is the networking aspect.

“And what about relatives?” Mr. Varsavsky wrote. “If people are joining so many social sites to find out what they have in common, why not find out who the person who is closest to you in the genetic sense is?”

Even without a bit of mapping, Ms. Wojcicki’s own distinguished genetic heritage is evident. She comes from a family of intellectual high achievers. Her father, Stanley, is the chairman of the physics department at Stanford University; her mother, Esther, is a journalism teacher at Palo Alto High School. Ms. Wojcicki, the youngest of three daughters, attended Yale University, graduating in 1996 with a degree in biology.

The couple met after Ms. Wojcicki’s older sister, Susan, now a Google vice president, sublet the garage of her house in Menlo Park to Mr. Brin and his partner, Larry Page, 34, for their search-engine start-up.

Google has declined to disclose any details of the wedding, but according to various news reports, the location was such a closely guarded secret that wedding guests boarded the jet owned by Mr. Brin and Mr. Page unaware of their exact destination until they arrived on a private island in the Bahamas.

Guests who attended said the bride wore a white swimsuit, the groom a black one. Some guests took a boat while others — including the bride and groom — swam to a nearby sandbar, where the couple exchanged vows.

Ms. Wojcicki is known for her high energy and approachable, easygoing, personal style. People who knew her in high school in Palo Alto said that she was studious but far from isolated. While at Yale, her mother said, Ms. Wojcicki was a competitive ice skater and played on the varsity ice hockey team. She also had a job as an activities coordinator in her dormitory.

Esther Wojcicki, who has worked at Google as an educational consultant, described her daughter as “an idea factory.” In the past, she said, her daughter has had various health care related business ideas, and 23andMe is the first to come to fruition. Ms. Avey, her partner, has been involved with several start-ups in the past.

Ms. Wojcicki said that she was surprised when her daughter told her of the unusual wedding she had planned.

“She said, ‘Mom, I’m going to swim to my wedding,’ ” said Ms. Wojcicki. “And she pulled it off.”

Spurning some of the usual trappings of great wealth, Mr. Brin, who is worth some $14 billion, and Ms. Wojcicki live in a quiet residential neighborhood in Palo Alto.

In addition to Google, a handful of venture firms have invested in 23andMe as well. The total investment is estimated at around $10 million, part of which is being used to repay a $2.6 million personal loan from Mr. Brin.

“This is a completely new thing, and that’s exactly why we invested,” said Patrick Chung, a partner with New Enterprise Associates, a venture capital firm in Menlo Park, Calif. “Everyone can relate to this. Everyone has a genetic blueprint.”

Mr. Chung said that he was particularly impressed by Ms. Wojcicki’s ability to discuss the scientific aspects of her new company without losing her audience. “She’s really, really smart and still completely accessible,” he said. “And that is a gift.”