Updated October 2026
Customer data in bankruptcy: from RadioShack to 23andMe
When people search for a bankruptcy data sale, they usually mean customer records: 23andMe's genetic database, RadioShack's mailing list, a retailer's loyalty file. Those cases are context for this site, not a model. The buyers we list license a company's internal work record, and they describe removing personal data: Polyshares through a third-party partner, and SimpleClosure by processing every dataset for PII.1,2,3,4
2025
23andMe: $305M and a fight over genetic data
TTAM Research Institute, the nonprofit led by co-founder Anne Wojcicki, paid $305M for substantially all of 23andMe's assets, outbidding Regeneron's $256M. Judge Brian C. Walsh approved the sale in 2025.1
In June 2025, 27 states and the District of Columbia sued to stop the sale of customers' genetic data without their consent. By the approval hearing, the judge said many objections had been resolved, and five states were still actively opposed.5
2015
RadioShack: how a customer file was cut down
RadioShack's IP package, sold to General Wireless for $26M, originally offered more than 67M physical addresses and 8.5M email addresses. State attorneys general led by Texas objected. After a nine-hour mediation run by the privacy ombudsman, the buyer took no Social Security numbers, phone numbers, birth dates or card numbers, and only emails from customers who had asked for product information in the previous two years.2,6
The FTC also wrote to the ombudsman, recommending that any buyer be in the same line of business and follow RadioShack's privacy policy.6
| Fact | Value and source |
|---|---|
| RadioShack customer data (2015) | General Wireless paid $26M for RadioShack's IP package; the data originally offered included 67M+ physical addresses and 8.5M email addresses |
| How RadioShack's data was narrowed | After a nine-hour mediation led by the privacy ombudsman with state attorneys general, the buyer got no SSNs, phone numbers, birth dates or card numbers, and only emails from customers who asked for product information in the last two years |
Brands with data attached
Zulily and Bed Bath & Beyond: customer files sold with the name
Zulily went into an assignment for the benefit of creditors in December 2023, outside bankruptcy court. Beyond later paid $4.5M plus costs for its website, domains, trademarks, social accounts, website software and a customer database. In 2023, Overstock won Bed Bath & Beyond's IP and digital assets, including business data, for $21.5M.7,8,9
The difference
Why a work archive is a different asset
Customer data is valued for marketing to the same people. AI buyers want something else: how staff write, plan and decide. SimpleClosure says sensitive employee and health records are excluded from its deals while code, Slack, email and docs are in scope, and Spirit's winning bidder dropped the passenger and transaction datasets without lowering its price.10,11
The new consumer case to watch is Character.AI, whose privacy policy says chat transcripts and voice recordings could be disclosed in a sale. Attorneys general for 39 states and DC set nine conditions for any buyer on 2026-10-14.12,13
FAQ
Questions, answered with sources
TTAM Research Institute, led by co-founder Anne Wojcicki, bought substantially all of 23andMe's assets for $305M, beating Regeneron's $256M.1
27 states and DC sued in June 2025; five were still actively opposed when the sale was approved.5
The ones listed here license internal work records and describe removing personal data. SimpleClosure, for example, excludes sensitive employee and health records.10
We do not answer legal questions. Ask the licensing company: their team reviews this with you before anything is signed.
Before you sign
Legal questions go to the licensing company
We do not answer legal questions. Ask the licensing company before you sign: their team reviews these with you.
Questions for this kind of business
- Does our privacy policy limit what customer information could ever be included in a sale?
- Is a consumer privacy ombudsman, court approval, or notice and a hearing needed?
- How do CCPA, GDPR, UK GDPR and state privacy laws apply, and is de-identified data still personal information?
Questions for any buyer
- Is the license exclusive, and for how long?
- Can you sublicense the data, and to whom?
- Which AI labs will receive it, and will you tell us?
- How long do you keep it, and how is it deleted?
- What is your liability cap, and who indemnifies whom?
- Will the contract ban re-identification of people in the data?
- Who removes personal data, by what method, and do we approve it first?