Massive Settlement Ends Lawsuit Against Meta’s Board of Directors

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, has reached an amicable settlement with a group of shareholders, bringing an end to a lawsuit that accused him and the company’s board of directors of failing to protect Facebook users’ privacy—resulting in substantial financial losses.

On Thursday, July 17, 2025, the plaintiffs’ attorneys announced during a court session in the U.S. state of Delaware that a settlement had been reached, valued at $8 billion. According to Reuters, the full details of the agreement have not yet been disclosed, and Meta’s legal team has so far remained silent on the matter.

The presiding judge decided to postpone the next hearing but praised the positive step represented by the agreement, which puts an end to one of the most high-profile cases related to data privacy violations. The case was based on a rare legal procedure known as a “Caremark claim,” which holds board members accountable for failing to fulfill their oversight duties.

This case is closely linked to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which revealed the misuse of data from millions of users for political purposes—particularly in the Brexit referendum and the 2016 U.S. presidential election. That scandal ultimately led to a record $5 billion fine imposed on Meta by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in 2019.

The settlement is expected to spark wide debate in legal and tech circles, as it exempts Meta’s top executives from direct legal liability and raises serious questions about the effectiveness of current laws in addressing privacy violations in the digital age.