Liu named to head Ancestry

Ancestry, a family history and consumer genomics company based in Lehi, has appointed Deborah (Deb) Liu as CEO and a member of the company’s board of directors. In making the announcement, the board said Liu would assume her role on March 1.

Liu joins Ancestry from Facebook, where she most recently created and led Facebook’s Marketplace product group. Prior to Facebook, Liu held leadership roles at eBay and PayPal. Liu is actively involved in promoting diversity and women in technology and co-created the Women in Product nonprofit organization. She is also a member of the board of directors of business and financial software company Intuit Inc.

“It’s an honor to join Ancestry. I’m excited to help craft the company’s next chapter, accelerating growth in family history subscriptions and AncestryDNA by bringing the product to more people around the world,” said Liu. “I have tremendous admiration for Ancestry’s rich history and powerful mission to empower journeys of personal discovery to enrich lives. Finding and sharing our family history and understanding the challenges and triumphs our ancestors faced helps us feel a greater sense of connection and belonging and ultimately realize our shared humanity.”

“Ancestry already leads the field in its category but still has the potential to attract many new customers and grow its business further,” said Mark Thompson, chairman of Ancestry’s board of directors. “In the course of an extensive search, it became clear to all of us that Deb was the perfect next CEO of Ancestry. She has a proven track record of product innovation and deep experience in building global consumer technology platforms. She is an outstanding leader able to inspire and motivate teams to achieve their goals.”

David Kestnbaum, a senior managing director, and Sachin Bavishi, a managing director at Ancestry stakeholder Blackstone, said in a joint statement, “Deb is a terrific leader with a very strong track record of driving innovation and growth, as well as building world-class product and technology platforms. We are excited about Ancestry’s future and look forward to partnering with Deb as she leads the company into its next phase of growth.”