Published
July 27, 2026
This settlement resolves investor claims that the registration statement for Zymergen's April 2021 initial public offering left out material facts about the synthetic-biology company's product pipeline. If you bought stock in or traceable to that offering, you can claim a share of a $125,000,000 fund — you will need your brokerage records, and the deadline is October 11, 2026.
Current Status
Claims are open. The deadline to submit a Proof of Claim online or to have a mailed form postmarked is October 11, 2026; the notice states the date without a timezone, so treat the date itself as the cutoff. The court preliminarily approved the settlement and authorized notice to the class, which went out under a court order dated June 22, 2026. The Settlement Hearing on final approval is set for October 13, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose — two days after the claim deadline. No final approval order has been entered and no payment date has been announced. Payments follow only after the court approves the settlement and a plan of allocation, after any appeals are resolved, and after all claims are processed.
Status
Claims Open
Claim Deadline
October 11, 2026
Submitted online or postmarked by this date · no timezone specified in the notice
Estimated Payout
$6.21 per share
Estimated average distribution before court-approved fees and expenses, which are estimated at $2.01 per share · pro rata by recognized loss · $125,000,000 fund
Proof Required
Yes
Broker confirmations or account statements documenting your April 20, 2021 holdings, every purchase and sale through August 4, 2021, and your August 4, 2021 holdings
What Is the Case About?
Zymergen was a synthetic-biology company that pitched investors on a "biofacturing" platform it said could make better products faster, cheaper, and more sustainably. It went public in April 2021, selling roughly 18.5 million shares at $31.00 and raising about $575 million.The lawsuit alleges that the registration statement and prospectus for that offering contained material misstatements and omissions about the biofacturing platform, the development status of eleven products in the company's pipeline, the market opportunity for those products, and when those products would actually generate revenue. According to the complaint, the truth emerged in August and November 2021, when Zymergen announced downward revisions to expected revenue, delays and cancellations in the product pipeline, smaller market opportunities, and departures from management. The stock closed at $8.25 on August 4, 2021 — down from the $31.00 offering price.
The claims are brought under Sections 11 and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933. Section 11 targets the offering documents themselves; Section 15 reaches those alleged to have controlled the entities that issued them. The settling defendants deny all of it. They deny making any materially misleading statement, deny any wrongdoing or violation of law, deny that any class member was harmed or suffered damages, and state that they performed reasonable and customary due diligence on the registration statement. The venture-capital defendants separately argue they did not control Zymergen or the directors they appointed. No court has found any of the allegations true, and the settlement is not an admission of anything.
Who Is Actually Paying — and Who Is Not
This is the detail that makes the case unusual, and it matters if you are wondering why the recovery looks the way it does.Zymergen itself is not paying. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2023. After the Delaware bankruptcy court confirmed its plan of liquidation in February 2024, this case could proceed against Zymergen only to the extent of available insurance — and that insurance has since been fully exhausted. Zymergen asserts it is not subject to liability in the action and is not a party to the settlement. Notably, neither Zymergen nor the ZYM Liquidating Trust is a released party, and the settlement expressly does not release the separate claims in the liquidating trustee's own state-court suit.
The $125,000,000 is instead being paid by the settling defendants: former Zymergen officers and directors, the offering's underwriters — J.P. Morgan Securities, Goldman Sachs, Cowen (now TD Securities), BofA Securities, UBS Securities, and Lazard Frères — and several venture-capital funds and their management companies, including True Ventures, SoftBank Vision Fund entities, and DCVC entities. How the total is split among them is confidential and was not filed publicly.
Who Qualifies?
The class, certified by the court in August 2023, is all persons and entities who purchased or otherwise acquired Zymergen common stock pursuant to or traceable to the registration statement and prospectus issued in connection with Zymergen's April 2021 initial public offering.The practical test is traceability to that offering, not simply owning the stock at some point. Under the Plan of Allocation the eligible purchase window runs from April 21, 2021 through August 3, 2021, and shares purchased on or after August 4, 2021 carry a Recognized Loss Amount of $0. Common stock is the only eligible security — option contracts do not count, though stock acquired by exercising an option does, using the exercise date and exercise price.
Excluded are the defendants, their officers and directors at all relevant times, their immediate family members and legal representatives, and any entity in which the settling defendants have or had a controlling interest. Pooled investment vehicles — mutual funds, ETFs, funds of funds, hedge funds, retirement accounts, and employee benefit plans — are specifically not excluded merely because a settling defendant holds an interest in them, so long as no settling defendant is a majority owner.
How Much Can You Get?
The fund is $125,000,000 in cash. Based on the lead plaintiff's estimate of eligible shares, the average distribution works out to approximately $6.21 per share before deductions. That is an estimate, not a promise — your actual recovery is a pro rata share determined by your allowed claim relative to every other allowed claim.Deductions come out first: taxes, notice and claims administration costs, and court-awarded fees and expenses. Lead counsel will ask for attorneys' fees of up to 30% of the settlement amount plus expenses of up to $3,000,000, and the plaintiffs may seek up to $40,000 in total for their time in representing the class. If the court awards what is requested, the notice estimates the cost at approximately $2.01 per share. Class members owe nothing personally.
The Plan of Allocation anchors on two numbers: the $31.00 IPO price and the $8.25 closing price on August 4, 2021. For eligible shares sold before August 4, 2021, the Recognized Loss Amount is the lesser of the purchase price minus the sale price, or $31.00 minus the sale price. For eligible shares sold on or after August 4, 2021 or still held, it is the least of four figures: the purchase price minus the sale price, $31.00 minus the sale price, the purchase price minus $8.25, or $22.75. Multiple transactions are matched First-In, First-Out.
Two limits catch people out. If your overall trading in Zymergen produced a market gain rather than a loss, your Recognized Claim is zero — and if your market loss is smaller than your calculated Recognized Claim, the claim is capped at that market loss. Recognized loss on short sales and the purchases covering them is zero. And if your calculated distribution comes to less than $10.00, no check is issued; those funds are redistributed to claimants receiving more.
What Proof Is Required?
You must submit genuine documentation for every transaction and holding you report — broker confirmation slips, brokerage account statements, or an authorized statement from your broker containing the same information. Neither the parties nor the claims administrator has any record of your trades.The Claim Form asks for four things: the number of shares you held at the close of trading on April 20, 2021; every purchase or acquisition from April 21, 2021 through August 4, 2021; every sale from April 21, 2021 through August 4, 2021; and the number of shares you held at the close of trading on August 4, 2021. Purchases dated August 4, 2021 are requested only so the administrator can confirm you reported everything — they are outside the class period and are not eligible for recovery. Failing to report all transaction and holding information for the requested periods may get your claim rejected.
File one Claim Form per separate legal entity, combining all of that entity's accounts on a single form; an individual's IRA is a separate legal entity and needs its own form. Use black or blue ink on a paper form, do not highlight anything, and do not send originals. Claimants with a large number of transactions can request the bulk electronic filing format through the official website.
One filing quirk worth noting: an online submission generates a claim number and a confirmation email, and your claim is not considered submitted until you receive it. A mailed claim generates no acknowledgment at all unless you send it certified mail with return receipt requested.
Can You Opt Out? What About Objecting?
You cannot opt out. The class was certified on August 11, 2023, notice of pendency went to more than 9,200 potential class members and nominees, and the exclusion deadline was December 5, 2023. No class member validly excluded themselves. The settlement provides no second opportunity to opt out, and the court determined none was necessary — so you are bound by the judgment and its releases whether or not you file a claim.You can object. A written objection must identify the case name and number, state your name, address, telephone number, and signature, document your membership in the class (the number of shares you bought or acquired traceable to the registration statement, whether any were sold, and the dates and prices), state your reasons, say whether it applies to you alone or the whole class, and identify any other class action settlements you or your counsel have objected to in the past five years. Objections must be filed with or postmarked to the court by September 22, 2026. If you also want to speak at the hearing, say so in the objection.
What Is the Deadline?
The Proof of Claim and supporting documentation must be submitted online, or postmarked if mailed, no later than October 11, 2026. The notice gives the date without a timezone. Objections and notices of intention to appear are due September 22, 2026. A class member who misses the claim deadline is barred from any payment but remains bound by the settlement and its releases.How Do You Take Action?
File through the official settlement website, Zymergen Securities Litigation.com, which hosts the full Notice, the Proof of Claim form, the court documents, and the bulk filing template. Uploaded documents must be .jpg, .jpeg, .tif, .tiff, .gif, .png, or .pdf and no larger than 10 MB each; if your records will not upload, the site prints a transmittal letter you can mail with the documents instead.Before you start, pull your brokerage records covering April 20, 2021 through August 4, 2021. If you exit the online form before selecting Submit, everything you entered is lost, and you cannot use the browser Back button to amend a claim once submitted — so have the records in front of you first. Print the confirmation page; the claim number on it is your proof of filing.
What Happens Next?
The next milestone is the Settlement Hearing on October 13, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose. The court will consider whether the settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate, whether to enter judgment dismissing the case with prejudice, whether to approve the Plan of Allocation, and what fees and expenses to award. Class members do not need to attend, and the date and time can change without further notice — the official settlement website posts any change.After final approval, distribution still waits for any appeals to be resolved and for all claims to be processed, which takes a substantial amount of time. No payment date has been announced. At least six months after the initial distribution, any remaining balance may be redistributed to claimants who cashed their checks, repeating until what is left is too small to distribute economically; whatever remains is donated to non-profit organizations recommended by lead counsel and approved by the court.
Sources and Verification
• Official Settlement Website — Zymergen Securities Litigation• Stipulation of Settlement dated March 23, 2026, and its exhibits, including the Notice of Proposed Settlement of Class Action and the Plan of Allocation
• Summary Notice of Proposed Settlement of Class Action, dated June 22, 2026, and the Proof of Claim and Release form
• Notice of Pendency of Class Action, dated September 6, 2023
• Wang v. Zymergen Inc., et al., Case No. 5:21-cv-06028-PCP, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division
OpenClassActions.com is a consumer news site and is not the claims administrator or a law firm.
Questions
Zymergen went bankrupt. Who is actually paying the $125 million?
Not the company. Zymergen filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2023, and after its plan of liquidation was confirmed the case could proceed against it only to the extent of available insurance, which has been exhausted. Zymergen asserts it is not subject to liability and is not a party to the settlement. The $125,000,000 is being paid by the settling defendants: former Zymergen officers and directors, the IPO underwriters, and several venture-capital funds and their management companies.
I bought Zymergen stock in 2022. Am I covered?
No. Only shares purchased or acquired pursuant to or traceable to the registration statement for the April 2021 IPO are eligible, and under the Plan of Allocation shares purchased on or after August 4, 2021 have a Recognized Loss Amount of $0. The eligible purchase window runs from April 21, 2021 through August 3, 2021.
Can I opt out of the Zymergen settlement?
No. The class was certified in August 2023 and class members were given an exclusion window that closed December 5, 2023. No class member validly excluded themselves at that time, and the settlement does not provide a second opportunity to opt out. You are bound by the judgment and its releases whether or not you file a claim.
How is my Zymergen recovery calculated?
The Plan of Allocation uses the $31.00 IPO price and the $8.25 closing price on August 4, 2021. For eligible shares sold before August 4, 2021, the Recognized Loss Amount is the lesser of the purchase price minus the sale price, or $31.00 minus the sale price. For eligible shares sold on or after August 4, 2021 or still held, it is the least of the purchase price minus the sale price, $31.00 minus the sale price, the purchase price minus $8.25, or $22.75. Multiple transactions are matched First-In, First-Out, and a claimant with an overall market gain has a Recognized Claim of zero.
Do Zymergen options count toward a claim?
Option contracts are not eligible securities. Common stock is the only eligible security. Shares bought or sold by exercising an option can count, using the exercise date as the transaction date and the exercise price as the transaction price.
Related Securities Settlements
The closest open comparison on timing is the $69M ChemoCentryx settlement, another biotech case with an October 2026 claim deadline. Other open claim windows include the Edgio $15M settlement and the Stitch Fix $32M settlement. Every case we track, open and expired, is listed on the securities class actions hub.
For more class actions keep scrolling below.
Settlement Amount
$125,000,000
Case Title
Wang v. Zymergen Inc., et al.
Case Number
5:21-cv-06028-PCP
Court
U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
Settlement Hearing
October 13, 2026 at 10:00 AM
San Jose Division · date and time subject to change
Administrator
Verita Global
Official Website
Zymergen Securities Litigation.com
