Meta investors and Mark Zuckerberg settle dispute over $8 billion privacy lawsuit involving Facebook
In a significant development, the $8 billion class-action lawsuit filed against Mark Zuckerberg and other Meta Platforms directors and officers, related to the 2018 Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal, was settled on July 17, 2025.
The lawsuit, which accused Zuckerberg and the Meta board of failing to fully disclose the risks that Facebook users' data would be misused by Cambridge Analytica and alleged repeated violations of a 2012 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) consent order, was set to provide a rare opportunity for Meta investors to see Zuckerberg answer probing questions under oath.
The settlement occurred just one day after the trial began, and it was finalized before Marc Andreessen, a Meta board member, was scheduled to testify. Meta declined to comment on the settlement but emphasized that the suit was against Zuckerberg and the directors personally, not Meta Platforms as a company [1].
The FTC fined Facebook $5 billion in 2019 for failing to comply with the 2012 agreement to protect users' data. The lawsuit claims that Facebook sold user data to commercial partners and removed required privacy disclosures, breaching the order.
Jason Kint, the head of Digital Content Next, expressed disappointment that the settlement might prevent public accountability, stating that Facebook has successfully remade the "Cambridge Analytica" scandal about a few bad actors rather than an unraveling of its entire business model of surveillance capitalism and the reciprocal, unbridled sharing of personal data.
The trial was scheduled to run through the end of next week and would have included testimony from Peter Thiel and Reed Hastings, former Facebook board members, as well as Jeffrey Zients, a former board member, who testified that the company did not agree to the FTC fine to spare Zuckerberg legal liability.
An expert witness for the plaintiffs testified about "gaps and weaknesses" in Facebook's privacy policies but did not say if the company violated the 2012 FTC agreement. The defendants denied the allegations, which they called "extreme claims."
The case follows revelations that data from millions of Facebook users was accessed by Cambridge Analytica. Facebook changed its name to Meta in 2021, and the company was not a defendant in the lawsuit.
The shareholders wanted the defendants to use their personal wealth to reimburse the company, but the details of the settlement were not disclosed. Billionaire venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, another Meta director, was scheduled to testify but was not needed due to the settlement.
Sandberg, another defendant, was scheduled to testify on Wednesday, and Zuckerberg was expected to testify on Monday. The trial was adjourned just as it was to enter its second day.
Meta has stated that it has invested billions of dollars into protecting user privacy since 2019. This settlement comes as a significant step towards resolving the aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, although the specific terms remain undisclosed.
[1] Meta Platforms Inc., "Meta Files to Dismiss Lawsuit Over 2018 Cambridge Analytica Privacy Scandal," Reuters, July 17, 2025.
The lawsuit, originally set to delve into the alleged failures of business leaders at Meta Platforms in addressing the misuse of users' data and repeated violations of a 2012 FTC consent order, now takes a different turn following the technology-driven resolution, with details of the settlement kept confidential.
The settlement, struck just days before the court was to question tech-savvy witnesses like Peter Thiel and Reed Hastings, signifies the end of a process that was to scrutinize the interplay between business and technology practices at Meta Platforms.
