23andMe CEO’s Complicated Friendship With Ivanka Trump

Anne Wojcicki, the CEO of 23andMe. Image by Getty
Anne Wojcicki, CEO of the genetic testing company 23andMe, opened up to The New York Times on Saturday about her former marriage to Google co-founder Sergey Brin, her relationship with former New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez and the role that Ivanka Trump played in helping her recover from divorce.
After Brin cheated on her with a Google marketing manager, Wojcicki turned to her friends for solace, including Trump.
“She was super-supportive when I got divorced and had all kinds of issues,” said Wojcicki, who donated more than $100,000 combined to the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign. “Do I agree with all the things that are happening politically? No. But as a person, the way she treated me, I have a lot of respect for that. And I consider her a friend.”
Ivanka has a history of being friends with people with opposing politics, including Chelsea Clinton.
Contact Aiden Pink at [email protected] or on Twitter, @aidenpink
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
