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in General Factchecking by Innovator (51.5k points)
Have you sent your DNA to Ancestry.com? Their testing company, acquired by Blackstone, is now tied to Russia, retaining ownership of customers' genetic data.

2 Answers

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ago by Newbie (300 points)
Aforementioned source is no longer accessible, doubting credibility on the claim. There are sources that claim Blackstone pulled out of Russia in 2014, which both verifies and slightly discredits this post. It is confirmed that the kept Ancestry.com records, but how connected Blackstone is to Russia is unknown.

https://www.valuewalk.com/blackstone-russia/
No available information
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ago by Novice (620 points)

Blackstone did confirm their full acquisition of Ancestry.com via a page on their website, as linked below. The page was released on December 4th, 2020. The WhoWhatWhy provides a breakdown of Blackstone's, and more specifically Schwarzman's (Blackstone's CEO), financial involvement in Russia. While there are many reports from 2014 claiming that Blackstone was "pulling out" of Russia due to tension with Ukraine (linked is the Reuter's article from that year), the WhoWhatWhy breaks down how the firm's personnel remained personally involved with Russia---via Trump, financial committees, etc. There is no evidence pointing to Russia having access to Ancestry's DNA records, and Blackstone's direct involvement with Russia was reportedly diminished by the time Blackstone completed the acquisition. 

Blackstone is 'giving up on Russia': FT | Reuters

Trump, Kushner, Russia — and the Blackstone Mystery - WhoWhatWhy

Blackstone Completes Acquisition of Ancestry®, Leading Online Family History Business, for $4.7 Billion - Blackstone

False

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