In a recent LinkedIn post, Dr Abasi Ene-Obong, 54gene founder breaks silence on resignation and set the record straight about the circumstances surrounding his departure from the company and opened up about the personal struggles he faced during that time.
He wrote the post on Thursday, October 17, 2024, in response to what he called “untruths” and rumours that have clouded his resignation.
Ene-Obong, who resigned as CEO of 54gene in 2022 and from its board in early 2023, described the internal tensions that followed his exit as “a hostile takeover” attempt.
He used the post to dispel rumours of financial misappropriation, noting that 54gene never accused him of such actions.
He pointed to a report by TechCrunch that had published these allegations, but later retracted the story and issued an apology.
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“Unfortunately, corrections are not always as far-reaching as the original misinformation,” he wrote.
The former CEO also highlighted the personal challenges that compounded his professional setbacks. Within five months of stepping down, Ene-Obong lost his father — who was the first geneticist he knew and a major inspiration for his career — and his cousin, whom he considered a brother.
2022/2023 was the hardest time
These devastating losses, he revealed, led to significant mental health struggles.
“2022/2023 was the hardest time of my life – I lost my company, I was accused of things I didn’t do, and I took the blame for everything and everyone,” he said.
Ene-Obong explained that these painful events led him to retreat from public life, including temporarily deactivating his social media accounts.
He clarified that his silence was a personal decision for self-preservation rather than an admission of guilt. “Silence doesn’t always mean guilt. Bad things happen to good people all the time. I chose silence to stay above the drama, not because of guilt.”
Despite the difficulties, he emphasized that these challenges helped him weed out what was unnecessary for his growth.
This candid revelation from Ene-Obong comes amid lingering questions about 54gene’s internal struggles and eventual closure, which was confirmed to TechCabal in September 2023 after the company failed to recover from financial instability despite raising $45 million across three funding rounds in two years.
While Ene-Obong did not address the company’s current status directly, his post sheds light on the personal toll the experience took on him.
The former CEO of 54gene now leads Syndicate Bio, a new genomics company he launched in September 2023, which focuses on driving inclusive advancements in global genomics, starting in Africa.
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