Victims of a 2023 data hack at genetic testing company 23andMe will receive a multimillion-dollar payout from the company.

A California bankruptcy court judge ruled on Tuesday that Chrome Holding, which last year took control of 23andMe after its bankruptcy, should pay $46.75 million (£35 million) in compensation.

23andMe compiles genetic profiles of people through DNA testing kits, but came under fire after the data of up to 6.9 million people was breached in the 2023 hack.

Representatives from Chrome Holding and 23andMe have been contacted for comment.

Chrome Holding, which does business as TTAM Research Institute, is led by 23andMe co-founder Anne Wojcicki. She won the company’s assets last year through a bankruptcy auction with a bid of $305 million.

The ruling says the settlement will first be paid to Kroll Restructuring, which represents the victims, within five business days from Tuesday.

Kroll will then distribute the funds to victims, according to the ruling.

The naming of companies like Kroll is typical in corporate bankruptcy proceedings.

The BBC has contacted the legal team representing the victims to ask how many people will receive the payment.

23andMe filed for bankruptcy early last year, about 18 months after hackers were able to access approximately 14,000 user accounts.

Because the company offered “complete” genetic profiles of people who submitted their DNA, including genetic markers related to their health and family history, some of the information hackers accessed was highly personal.

While the number of accounts directly accessed during the breach only represented a small fraction of 23andMe’s total users, the hackers were able to access the profiles of those users’ family members. That gave them access to millions of profiles hosted on 23andMe.

The breach led to investigations and fines, including a £2.31 million fine from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), a UK watchdog.

The ICO said 23andMe had not implemented adequate measures to protect sensitive user data before the incident.

In May, Rob Bonta, California’s Attorney General, sued the company following an investigation that found 23andMe “failed to take basic steps to protect user data.”

Bonta also claimed that 23andMe “lied to consumers about the severity of its 2023 data breach.”

The company has continued to operate since bankruptcy and offers DNA testing kits to people online.

23andMe was once valued at $6 billion. It started in 2006 and went public in 2021, but never made a profit.