The company passed the symbolic $1,000 billion market cap for the first time after the judge’s favorable ruling. Facebook was sued by the FTC and the prosecutors of 46 US states late last year.
They accused Facebook of trying to eliminate potential competitors for years, including by buying them up. In addition to buying companies that could develop into competitors, CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s company also did so by imposing conditions on software developers that made it more difficult to compete with Facebook itself. In addition, Facebook denied developers access to certain information, the indictment said.
Facebook previously said the prosecutors failed to take into account, among other things, the “reality of the dynamic, intensely competitive high-tech industry in which Facebook operates”. The judge in Washington now said that he can largely agree with Facebook’s arguments and that the FTC’s charge is insufficiently substantiated legally and factually.
The complainants wanted Facebook to be punished and make amends for the abuse of power. This could be done by undoing previous acquisitions of, for example, WhatsApp and Instagram. The FTC has the opportunity to file a new charge against Facebook again.
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