Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reached a settlement agreement in a multibillion-dollar lawsuit filed by shareholders who accused company executives of mishandling Facebook’s repeated privacy violations.
The lawsuit originally sought $8 billion (approximately £6 billion) in damages, though the final settlement amount remains undisclosed. The agreement was revealed by legal counsel for the shareholders just before the second day of trial proceedings began in a Delaware courtroom. Meta has declined to provide any public comment on the resolution.
At the center of the lawsuit were allegations that Zuckerberg’s leadership contributed to the infamous Cambridge Analytica scandal, where the personal data of millions of Facebook users was improperly accessed and utilized by a political data firm.
Shareholders requested that the court compel 11 current and former Meta executives to compensate the company for over $8 billion in regulatory fines and legal expenses, stemming from various user privacy controversies. They also raised concerns over suspiciously timed stock sales by Meta’s senior leadership.
Meta, which rebranded from Facebook, owns several major platforms, including Instagram and WhatsApp. The lawsuit was initiated in 2018 after revelations that Cambridge Analytica, which supported Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, had harvested Facebook user data without consent.
Among the individuals named in the suit was Jeffrey Zients, who served on Meta’s board starting in May 2018 and later served as President Joe Biden’s chief of staff. During testimony earlier this week, Zients acknowledged the significance of the $5 billion fine imposed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), but denied that it was paid to shield Zuckerberg from legal exposure.
Other defendants included prominent tech figures such as Peter Thiel, co-founder of Palantir Technologies, and Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings.
By settling, the defendants avoid the obligation to testify under oath. Meta’s former COO, Sheryl Sandberg, had also been expected to appear in court.
Ann Lipton, a law professor at the University of Colorado, noted the missed opportunity for transparency.
“A full trial could have revealed the internal decision-making that led Facebook to engage in any questionable or unlawful practices,” said Lipton. “This kind of disclosure is important for the public. Without a trial, we lose that potential for accountability.”
Though Meta was not officially a defendant in the case, the company has stated that it has spent billions on privacy improvements since 2019.
Prior to the settlement, Delaware Judge Kathaleen McCormick was expected to preside over several more days of testimony. Judge McCormick previously made headlines for rejecting Elon Musk’s $56 billion Tesla pay package — a decision that contributed to Tesla’s relocation from Delaware to Texas.
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