Times letters: Finding the cash for war-fighting readiness
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The Guardian
8 minutes ago
- The Guardian
23andMe back on the auction block after former CEO makes 11th-hour bid
DNA testing company 23andMe is back up for sale, throwing a purchase agreement reached last month into chaos, court filings show. The board of directors of 23andMe, which filed for bankruptcy in March, had agreed to sell the company and its assets to pharmaceutical firm Regeneron for $256m after conducting an auction in April. However, the founder and former CEO of the genetics company, Anne Wojcicki, put in a $305m bid through a newly formed non-profit, TTAM Research Institute, after the auction ended and pushed the bankruptcy court to re-open the sale process. She tried to buy the company multiple times during its long decline and bankruptcy but was rejected by the board. TTAM's offer of $305m will serve as a starting price for the secondary sale process, and Regeneron will be permitted to submit a competing bid that is at least $10m more. Both companies will be able to then submit a final offer. Whoever loses will qualify for a $10m breakup fee, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news. Sign up to TechScape A weekly dive in to how technology is shaping our lives after newsletter promotion The reopening of the auction puts the valuable trove of DNA data that 23andMe has accrued back on the market. Consumer concerns over who will control their data after a sale and what they would do with it prompted hundreds of 23andMe customers to delete their DNA info from the site. As part of its acquisition, Regeneron said it would comply with 23andMe's privacy policies and applicable laws with respect to the use of customer data. In the weeks since the acquisition was agreed upon, Regeneron said that it had already started to work with a consumer privacy ombudsman and was 'preparing to work with regulators, among others, to assure all interested stakeholders that 23andMe will be in safe hands and will not face the data breach issues that plagued it in the past', according to court filings. Regeneron agreed to the terms of the secondary sale but in court filings lamented that TTAM was permitted to submit the bid after the auction closed in spite of rules that prohibited such late bids. The company accused both TTAM and 23andMe of violating the court-ordered bidding procedures, including the deadline for bids and overbids. 'Since the auction ended, Regeneron has been subject to remarkably unfair treatment,' court filings read. 'Despite auction rules that unambiguously prohibit bids after the auction, and that likewise prohibit bidders from seeking to reopen the auction, TTAM—a vehicle controlled by the Debtors' former CEO, which participated at every stage of the auction—has submitted a flurry of new bids and has pressed non-stop to reopen the auction.' Regeneron further pointed to an eighth circuit ruling that warned against allowing buyers to 'bide[] its time during the auction, taking an opportunity to survey the landscape of the sale, only later to submit an upset bid at the lowest possible price'. The company also cited Wojcicki's previous failed attempts to purchase the company or take it private. 'In short, and given that history, no bidder would ever voluntarily participate in an auction in which the Wojcicki Parties, who led the company into this proceeding, could use the auction process as a vehicle for price discovery, with a one-way option to reopen the process—and to bid again—after the auction concludes,' Regeneron's attorneys wrote in court filings. 23andMe, Regeneron and TTAM did not respond to requests for comment.
Telegraph
11 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Live Donald Trump is named in Epstein files, claims Musk
Elon Musk has dropped a bombshell accusation, claiming his former close friend Donald Trump appears in the Epstein files. The claim was part of a spectacular war of words between the world's most powerful men, with the president claiming the Tesla boss has 'Trump derangement syndrome', and Mr Musk insisting Mr Trump only won the election because of him. Mr Musk said in a post on X: Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT! — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025 Earlier in the day Mr Trump told reporters during a sit-down with Friedrich Merz, Germany's new chancellor: 'Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore.' In February, Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, pledged to release all of the information the government holds on Epstein, which have come to be colloquially known as the 'Epstein files'. She invited a select group of pro-Maga influencers to the White House where they were handed binders containing what she said was 'Phase One' of the full document release. However, the 200-page document contained only phone-book contacts and flight logs, most of which have been available since 2015, and no date has been set for releasing the remaining files.
The Guardian
14 minutes ago
- The Guardian
‘Such ingratitude': Trump and Musk alliance devolves into bitter feud
Donald Trump's relationship with Elon Musk appeared on the precipice of devolving into bitter personal acrimony on Thursday as the onetime special adviser publicly assailed the president for being ungrateful for the millions he spent to get him elected. 'Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,' Musk said in a post on X. He added: 'Such ingratitude.' The direct shot at Trump was the latest twist in a rapidly deteriorating alliance. Trump and Musk had been careful not to hit each other directly, but they both discarded restraint as what started as a dispute over Trump's domestic spending bill escalated. Musk taking credit for Trump's election win threatens to be a touchpoint for their relationship, in particular. Trump had made a point to say Musk's contribution had no bearing on his ability to win the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania in the 2024 election. The Trump-Musk relationship may yet get worse. Hours after the feud kicked off, Trump threatened to punish Musk, posting on Truth Social: 'The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts.' Shares of Tesla, Musk's electronic vehicle company, fell nearly 12% shortly after midday, with the decline timed to when Trump's remarks began. For weeks, Musk has complained about the proposed Republican budget bill and used the non-partisan congressional budget office estimating the bill would add $2.4tn to the deficit over the next decade as an opening to slam the legislation as a 'disgusting abomination'. On Thursday, Trump appeared to finally have had enough of Musk's complaints. Speaking in the Oval Office as German chancellor Friedrich Merz looked on in bemusement, Trump mocked Musk's recent black eye and questioned why he didn't cover it up. 'You saw a man who was very happy when he stood behind the Oval desk. Even with a black eye. I said, do you want a little makeup? He said, 'No, I don't think so,' which is interesting,' Trump said. 'Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore.' Trump then ratcheted up his barbs at Musk, accusing him of turning against the bill solely out of self-interest, as the bill did not benefit Tesla, Musk's electronic vehicle company, and Trump pulled the nomination of Musk's preferred candidate to lead Nasa. 'I'm very disappointed with Elon,' Trump said. 'He had no problem with it. All of a sudden he had a problem & he only developed the problem when he found out we're going to cut EV mandate.' An unrestrained Musk hit back within minutes of the clip being posted on X, seemingly learning of Trump's comments in real time. As Washington watched in disbelief at the back and forth playing out online, Musk effectively accused Trump of lying. 'False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!' Musk posted. The public feud comes after a remarkable partnership that lasted longer than many Democrats on Capitol Hill and in Trump's orbit predicted. Musk spent hundreds of millions of dollars on Trump's re-election campaign through his specially created America Pac which shouldered a large portion of Trump's door-knocking campaign, although that the actual impact of that ground game effort is unclear.
