Mingson Lau, Associated Press
WILMINGTON, Delaware (AP) — A settlement was announced in court Thursday in a class action investor lawsuit against Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and current and former company leaders over allegations stemming from a privacy scandal involving a political consulting firm at Cambridge Analytica.
The lawsuit had sought billions of dollars in fines and reimbursements for legal costs. Details about the settlement were not shared when it was announced at Delaware Chance Court, which is likely to be the second day of the trial.
The attorney involved left the court without commenting. Meta Communications Representative said the company had no comment.
Investors have alleged in a lawsuit that Meta had not fully disclosed to Facebook users the risk that personal information would be misused by Cambridge Analytica, which helped Donald Trump’s successful Republican presidential campaign in 2016.
Facebook later sold user data to commercial partners in direct violation of the consent order and removed disclosures from required privacy settings under the consent order, the lawsuit allegedly filed.
Facebook has agreed to pay a $5.1 billion penalty to settle FTC fees for fallout. The social media giant also faces major fines, reaching a $725 million privacy payment with users.
Shareholders wanted Zuckerberg and others to refund Meta an estimated $8 billion or more due to FTC fines and other legal costs.
Zuckerberg and former Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg were expected to testify. Other current and former board members, including billionaires Mark Andreesen and Peter Thiel, were also included as defendants.
Earlier this year, Sandberg was authorized for deleting emails from her personal accounts related to the Cambridge analysis investigation. Jeffrey Sient, who served as an external director from 2018 to 2020, avoided sanctions in the same case.
Testifying on the first day of the lawsuit, Zients said it supported the FTC settlement, which shareholders had sought a refund.
Barbara Ototai, an Associated Press reporter in San Francisco, contributed to the report.
Original issue: July 17, 2025, 2:33pm EDT
