Mark Zuckerberg and several top executives at Meta have agreed to settle a multibillion-dollar lawsuit brought by shareholders over repeated privacy violations involving Facebook. The lawsuit, filed in 2018, centered on the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where data from millions of Facebook users was improperly accessed and used by a political consulting firm.
The shareholders had sought $8 billion in damages, but the settlement amount has not been disclosed. The announcement came just before the trial was set to enter its second day in a Delaware court. Meta declined to comment on the settlement.
Allegations Against Zuckerberg and Meta Leadership
The shareholders accused Zuckerberg and other Meta directors of mismanaging privacy controls, leading to significant legal fines and damages. They requested the court to order 11 defendants to reimburse Meta for over $8 billion paid in fines and legal costs tied to user privacy breach claims.
Concerns were also raised over the timing of share sales by company executives.
Among the defendants were notable figures such as Jeffrey Zients, who served as a Meta director starting in 2018 and was previously White House chief of staff, as well as Peter Thiel, co-founder of Palantir Technologies, and Reed Hastings, co-founder of Netflix.
Testimony from Zients acknowledged the substantial $5 billion Federal Trade Commission fine but clarified that it was not paid to protect Zuckerberg from liability.
Former Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg was also expected to testify, but the settlement now prevents these and other defendants from giving testimony under oath.
University of Colorado law professor Ann Lipton emphasized the missed opportunity for a comprehensive accounting of Facebook’s alleged illegal practices and corporate failings.
“It’s valuable for society to know how this happened and what went wrong,” Lipton said. “That kind of exposure serves a valuable social purpose. We won’t get that accounting now.”
Meta’s Position and Legal Proceedings
Meta was not a direct party to the lawsuit but has noted it has invested billions into privacy reforms since 2019.
Prior to the settlement, Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick of Delaware was scheduled to hear further testimony before making a ruling. McCormick is known for rejecting Elon Musk’s $56 billion pay package last year, a decision that led to Tesla’s reincorporation in Texas.
What The Author Thinks
Settling this high-profile case without full disclosure or accountability allows those responsible to avoid scrutiny, and it denies the public a clear understanding of how such massive privacy failures occurred. Transparency in cases involving widespread data misuse is crucial—not only for justice but to restore trust in the tech industry. Without it, similar problems may persist unchecked.
Featured image credit: Heute
For more stories like it, click the +Follow button at the top of this page to follow us.