Mark Zuckerberg and Meta Investors Settle $8 Billion Facebook Privacy Lawsuit, Ending Trial

Mark Zuckerberg and several current and former directors of Meta Platforms reached a settlement on Thursday to address claims that they caused up to $8 billion in damages by permitting repeated violations of Facebook users’ privacy. The announcement was made by a lawyer representing shareholders during a hearing in the Delaware Court of Chancery. Specific details of the settlement remain undisclosed, and defense lawyers did not provide comments as the trial, led by Judge Kathaleen McCormick, was adjourned just before it was set to enter its second day. The plaintiffs, represented by lawyer Sam Closic, noted that the settlement came together swiftly.

Among the defendants is billionaire venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, a Meta director who was scheduled to testify on the day of the settlement. Shareholders instituted the lawsuit against Zuckerberg, Andreessen, and former Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, seeking accountability for significant legal costs and fines the company incurred in recent years, including a historic $5 billion fine imposed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2019 for failing to protect user data. The lawsuit alleged that these board members inadequately overseen the company’s compliance with the FTC’s 2012 agreement and purported that Zuckerberg and Sandberg ran the platform as an illegal data harvesting operation. The trial had been initially designed to feature testimony from key figures, including Zuckerberg and Sandberg, and was expected to last through the following week.

Jason Kint, head of Digital Content Next, criticized the settlement for lacking public accountability. He argued that the case would have presented a rare opportunity for investors to hear Zuckerberg testify under oath about the company’s practices, notably those stemming from the infamous Cambridge Analytica scandal that raised major concerns about data privacy and misuse.