Trump donor buys large stake in Ancestry.com

[Dem2theMax]

https://gizmodo.com/worlds-biggest-landlord-buys-worlds-biggest-genealogy-w-1844630685

The Blackstone Group will buy a majority stake in the genealogy website Ancestry.com in a deal worth $4.7 billion, according to a press release published Wednesday. Blackstone Group, a private equity firm, is the world’s largest landlord and Ancestry is the world’s largest genealogy website, with over 6 billion records on family history in the U.S. alone. Ancestry also provides DNA testing and has over 18 million DNA test results in its databases.

snip

The CEO and co-founder of Blackstone, billionaire Stephen A. Schwarzman, contributes significant sums of money to the Republican Party and has close ties to the Trump regime, serving on President Trump’s business advisory council in 2017. Schwarzman previously called proposed tax hikes on businesses during the Barack Obama administration, “like when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939,” something that he later apologized for.

Much more at the link above. I don't think this guy is going to use Ancestry.com for the reasons we use it.

[liberalmuse]

1. A bit horrifying.

God only knows what these fascist will do with our DNA information.

[Dem2theMax]

3. Ancestry is having a sale on their 'Ancestry Health' product.

I've already done my DNA on their website. Was just getting ready to do the health portion when I saw the article about the sale. I don't have an active account right now. And I will never have one again after this. I'm going to download all of my information to my computer and delete my records from Ancestry.

I guess that's the end of my genealogy research.

[Dem2theMax]

5. I know!

I just read up on how to delete everything. You can take absolutely everything off the site, all of your trees and your DNA results. I have a lot of work ahead of me. Lots to copy over onto the computer. Then bye-bye Ancestry. What a shame!

[CountAllVotes]

8. Oddly I just did this last night!

I don't know why I did it but I did!

DNA = gone
Tree = gone



How's that for some psychic energy coming my way?

I am stunned I tell you! STUNNED!!!

[Wellstone ruled]

6. Blackstone Russian Oligach's.

[OnDoutside]

7. Time to cancel my Ancestry subscription.

[Karadeniz]

9. I just saw his name on the post listing the billionaires who fund the RNC legal fund that supports

Going to court to further voter suppression.

[Dem2theMax]

10. It's absolutely unbelievable.

Everywhere we turn, there's an infestation of these people trying to destroy everything we're trying to save.

I swear, my blood pressure has been up for hours, ever since I read about this earlier today.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

12. You took the words right out of my mouth.

Same and same.

[LessAspin]

11. He will only use it for Good..

Link to tweet

[bucolic_frolic]

13. Now that they have DNA tests that produce revenue, private equity got interested

I doubt the DNA tests. I've traced all my ancestry to 1850, and some to 1560, 1200, and 700.

Until they can prove, in a double blind test, that DNA produces results entirely consistent with verifiably traced ancestry using actual contemporary paper records going back centuries, DNA testing is just SNAKE OIL to me.

[live love laugh]

14. Fuck.

Just fuck.