Zuckerberg tried to avoid antitrust case trial with $450 million settlement: Report

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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently made a last-minute attempt to avoid a major antitrust trial by offering to settle with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for USD 450 million—a proposal that fell far short of the agency’s demand of USD 30 billion and was ultimately rejected, as per a report by the Wall Street Journal.

The report mentioned that Zuckerberg personally called FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson in late March with the offer, hoping to close the long-running case before it went to trial. The FTC, however, wanted $30 billion and a consent decree, and Ferguson reportedly saw Meta’s offer as not credible.

“The company’s USD 450 million settlement offer was delusional,” former FTC Chair Lina Khan was quoted as saying by WSJ. “Mark bought his way out of competing, so I’m not surprised that he thinks he can buy his way out of law enforcement, too.