Nearly a decade after the infamous Cambridge Analytica scandal exposed Facebook’s lax data protections, Mark Zuckerberg and former top Meta executives have agreed to settle a sweeping shareholder lawsuit tied to repeated privacy breaches.

The settlement, finalized without public disclosure of its terms, resolves claims seeking $8 billion in damages and avoids what would have been a high-stakes trial in Delaware.

The case stems from Facebook’s failure to prevent user data from being harvested by political consultancy Cambridge Analytica, which used the information to support Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Shareholders accused Zuckerberg and board members — past and present — of ignoring red flags and allowing years of data misuse despite a 2012 FTC order requiring stronger safeguards.

“This settlement may bring relief to the parties involved, but it’s a missed opportunity for public accountability,” said Jason Kint, CEO of Digital Content Next. “Facebook has successfully remade the Cambridge Analytica scandal about a few bad actors rather than an unraveling of its entire business model of surveillance capitalism.”

By settling, 11 defendants, including tech moguls Marc Andreessen and Peter Thiel, avoided being questioned under oath. Former COO Sheryl Sandberg, who deleted sensitive emails relevant to the case, was also expected to testify. The lawsuit accused her and Zuckerberg of turning Facebook into a tool for mass data collection under the guise of social networking.

Scholar Shoshana Zuboff added, “Democracy is on the ropes in the UK, US, and many other countries, not in small measure because of the operations of surveillance capitalism.”

Though Meta itself was not named as a defendant, the case’s resolution leaves cybersecurity experts with unresolved concerns. “The lawsuit was filed in 2018. Settlement reached in 2025. During those 7 years, Meta made $1.1 trillion in revenue,” noted Jason Grad, CEO of Massive. “Breaking rules early and paying later is often the optimal business strategy.”

The long timeline and confidential terms highlight how slowly regulation moves in a digital landscape where data still drives profit… and trust remains optional.