WILMINGTON, DE — Meta Platforms Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other company executives reached a settlement Thursday with a group of shareholders, ending a long-running $8 billion trial over allegations that Facebook knowingly harvested user data.
The settlement was announced in Delaware’s Chancery Court, where Judge Kathaleen McCormick was presiding. An attorney representing the shareholders, Sam Closic, said the agreement with Zuckerberg and other members of Meta’s leadership was reached quickly, though the financial terms and other details were not immediately disclosed.
The lawsuit, filed in 2018, accused Zuckerberg, former COO Sheryl Sandberg, former Facebook Vice President Konstantinos Papamiltiadis, and several board members—including billionaires Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, former Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation CEO Susan Desmond-Hellman, eBay CFO Peggy Alford, and former American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault—of violating a Federal Trade Commission consent agreement. Shareholders alleged the company shared user data with third-party apps without consent, citing the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which involved the misuse of Facebook user data in political campaigns.
The trial was expected to feature testimony from Zuckerberg, Sandberg, Thiel, Andreessen, Hastings, and others, including Jeff Zients, President Joe Biden’s former chief of staff, and Erskine Bowles, President Bill Clinton’s former chief of staff, both of whom served on Facebook’s board. Sandberg had previously been sanctioned by the court in January for allegedly deleting personal emails considered material to the case, though she said relevant information was preserved elsewhere.
Meta, which rebranded from Facebook in 2021, and attorneys representing the company did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Shareholders had sought $8 billion in damages, but with the settlement, the case will not proceed to the expected high-profile testimonies.
According to Forbes, Zuckerberg is the world’s third-wealthiest person, with a fortune estimated at $241.1 billion. Sandberg’s net worth is approximately $2.4 billion, while Thiel is valued at $23.2 billion, Hastings at $6.8 billion, and Andreessen at $2 billion.
