One-Day Trial in Facebook Case and Billions in Damages. Quick Settlement

As reported by Reuters, the parties did not disclose the details of the settlement.

Judge Kathleen McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery adjourned the trial just before the second day began and congratulated the parties .

The plaintiff's lawyer, Sam Closic, said the settlement was reached very quickly.

Billionaire venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, a defendant in the trial and director of Meta, was scheduled to testify on Thursday.

Meta's shareholders wanted to hold the company's management responsible for the losses

Meta shareholders are suing Zuckerberg, Andreessen and other former company executives, including former COO Sheryl Sandberg, hoping to hold them accountable for billions of dollars in fines and legal costs the company has paid in recent years.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) fined Facebook $5 billion in 2019 after finding it had failed to fulfill a 2012 agreement with the regulator to protect user data.

Shareholders wanted the 11 defendants to use their personal assets to reimburse the company . The defendants denied the allegations, which they called "extreme claims."

The defendants' lawyer declined to comment.

“This settlement may provide some relief to the litigants, but it is a missed opportunity to hold them accountable to the public, ” said Jason Kint, head of Digital Content Next, an industry group representing content providers.

No trial, no awkward questions

The settlement allowed Zuckerberg and the other defendants to avoid having to answer probing questions under oath.

During the trial, it was determined that Sandberg deleted arguably the most sensitive emails and was penalized, making it difficult for her to present her side of the story in court.

Meta investors accused former and current board members of completely neglecting to oversee the company's compliance with its 2012 agreement with the FTC . The lawsuit also accused Zuckerberg and Sandberg of knowingly operating Facebook illegally to collect data, commonly known as the Cambridge Analytica scandal.