Meta settles shareholder privacy suit without answers Mark Zuckerberg and a group of past and present Meta bosses have wriggled out of an ugly $8 billion privacy trial, cutting a last-minute deal before the second day of testimony.

Mark Zuckerberg’s settlement Thursday of a $7 billion shareholder case cut short the most promising test to date for one of corporate law’s most potent, yet elusive, liability theories.

After years of legal sparring over Facebook’s governance, Meta has reached a major settlement with investors who accused CEO Mark Zuckerberg and company directors of enabling excessive power concentration.

An $8 billion trial by Meta Platforms shareholders against Mark Zuckerberg and other current and former company leaders kicks off on Wednesday over claims that they illegally harvested the data of Facebook users in violation of a 2012 agreement with the US Federal Trade Commission.