Meta Platforms Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg, along with a group of current and former executives, is standing trial this week in Delaware Chancery Court in a high-profile shareholder lawsuit stemming from the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal. The class action suit, brought by investors, seeks over $8 billion in damages, alleging that Meta failed to disclose the substantial risks associated with the misuse of user data.
At the center of the case is Facebook’s alleged violation of a 2012 consent order with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which required the company to obtain explicit user consent before collecting and sharing personal data. Despite this agreement, the plaintiffs contend that Facebook continued to engage in improper data-sharing practices while downplaying or omitting critical privacy disclosures.
Testimony began with privacy law expert Neil Richards of Washington University, who criticized Facebook’s internal privacy audits as “of limited value.” He questioned the credibility of a 2015 PricewaterhouseCoopers assessment that found Facebook’s privacy controls adequate.
Meta has already paid significant penalties related to the scandal, including a record $5.1 billion FTC settlement and a $725 million user class action settlement. Now, shareholders are seeking to hold top executives—including Zuckerberg, former COO Sheryl Sandberg, and board members Marc Andreessen and Peter Thiel—personally liable for the financial fallout.
Meta attempted to halt the proceedings by appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to intervene in November 2024. The trial, expected to last eight days, could have major implications for corporate governance and executive accountability in the tech industry. A final ruling from the judge is anticipated in the months following the conclusion of the trial.
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