Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, executives settle $8 billion privacy lawsuit with investors: Report

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg

and a group of the company's former and current investors have reached a settlement in a $8 billion lawsuit, reports Reuters. As per the news agency, a lawyer for the shareholders announced the settlement in Delaware’s Court of Chancery on Thursday (July 17), just as the trial was entering its second day. “The agreement just came together quickly,” Reuters report quotes Sam Closic, lawyer for the plaintiffs.

Lawsuit targeted top Meta executives

The lawsuit, filed by shareholders, named 11 defendants including CEO Mark Zuckerberg, venture capitalist and

Meta board member Marc Andreessen

, and former Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg. It accused Meta executives of failing to stop repeated privacy violations, which led to billions in fines and legal costs for Meta.The lawsuit stemmed from the 2018

Cambridge Analytica scandal

, where data from millions of Facebook users was accessed by the now-defunct political consulting firm that worked for Donald Trump's 2016 US presidential campaign.

In 2019, the Federal Trade Commission fined Facebook $5 billion for violating a 2012 agreement to protect user data. Shareholders alleged that Zuckerberg and Sandberg knowingly ran Facebook in a way that violated that agreement.While Marc Andreessen was scheduled to testify today (July 17), while Zuckerberg and Sandberg were due to appear in the following days. Former board members Peter Thiel and Reed Hastings were also expected to testify.

Mark Zuckerberg dismissed ‘extreme claims’

Meta

CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other defendants had previously dismissed the allegations in court filings as "extreme claims." Meta asserted it has invested billions since 2019 in programmes to safeguard user privacy.