Zuckerberg is finished! Antitrust settlement fails "FTC wants to fine $30 billion", WSJ: Meta only wants to pay $450 million, can't even afford IG.

Meta tried to settle the antitrust case for much less than the amount required by the FTC, but negotiations failed, Zuckerberg personally lobbied unsuccessfully, and the lawsuit of the century triggered by the key acquisition officially began. (Synopsis: Former Meta executives broke the news that Zuckerer licked the complicity: secretly created a "Facebook Taiwan-Hong Kong censorship" tool and betrayed Facebook user privacy) (Background supplement: Zuckerberg's 46 billion magnesium meta-universe investment is lost? Tech giant Facebook's time-consuming antitrust trial began, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg not only attended the relevant courtroom recently, but also personally called the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to propose a settlement that was satisfactory to both parties, but the Wall Street Journal alleged that the settlement negotiations had broken down, and Zuckerberg proposed to pay a $450 million fine, which is the same as the FTC's alleged 300 Billions of dollars are a world of difference, and the facts of the case may make the settlement break down, gradually moving towards the end of Meta's possible defeat. The FTC demanded a settlement of up to $30 billion over allegations that Meta's acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp constituted an illegal monopoly, which is not only a huge test of Meta's financial strength, but also reflects the regulator's determination of the seriousness of the case. Meta's $450 million proposal is not only far below the FTC's request, but even a fraction of the total value of its acquisitions of Instagram ($1 billion) and WhatsApp (about $19 billion), two deals that are at the heart of the antitrust lawsuit. As the trial date approaches, the gap between the two sides, while narrowing, remains enormous. FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson believes that Meta's initial proposal lacked sincerity, and his bottom line is a settlement of at least $18 billion and needs to be accompanied by a legally binding consent decree to ensure that Meta's future business practices are regulated. [source: 16] Although Meta later raised its offer to nearly $1 billion and led an intensive lobbying campaign aimed at avoiding trial by Zuckerberg himself, it failed to impress the FTC. [source: 17, 18] The two sides could not reach a consensus, and the negotiations broke down. Betting on Trump's political influence miscalculated? Zuckerberg's strategy was more than just monetary bargaining during this crucial negotiation process, and it is understood that Zuckerberg, in his communications with the FTC, believed that President Donald Trump might intervene in the case. In recent years, Zuckerberg has been working to repair and strengthen relations with Trump's camp, and Meta not only donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration, but also paid $25 million to settle with Trump over the suspension of his account. Zuckerberg himself recently visited the White House three times in 2025, meeting with Trump, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and other government officials in an attempt to lobby the president to intervene in the FTC lawsuit. Joel Kaplan, Meta's chief of global affairs, Kevin Martin, head of U.S. public policy, and Brian Baker, Zuckerberg's outside political adviser, also participated in the lobbying effort. It is understood that Trump did show openness to reaching a deal with Meta at some point, instructing staff to study a settlement plan, but also listening to opposition to intervention. On April 8, new FTC Chairman Alex Ferguson met with the president in the Oval Office, including Gail Slater, head of the Justice Department's antitrust division, Mike Davis, Trump's key antitrust adviser, and other people, who believe that they successfully persuaded Trump not to intervene for Meta and let the case go to trial. Although Zuckerberg invested tens of millions of dollars to bring the Trump camp closer, including hiring Republican strategist Baker to explain that his couple's $400 million donation to infrastructure for the 2020 election was not partisan, publicly praising Trump's response after his assassination attempt as "too handsome" [source: 52], and even adjusting the company's content moderation policy to cater to conservatives], in the end, these efforts do not seem to have paid off the political rewards he expected. The high-profile antitrust trial officially began on Monday (April 14, 2025), and the FTC filed a lawsuit against the then-named Facebook company in December 2020, the final weeks of Trump's first term, centering on Meta's mergers and acquisitions of photo-sharing app Instagram (acquired in 2012) and messaging app WhatsApp (acquired in 2014). The FTC considers Meta's strategy to be "buy or bury," that is, to acquire potential competitors or use the power of its platform to suppress rivals that cannot be acquired, thereby "eliminating the threat to its monopoly position." The lawsuit was initially dismissed by a judge in 2021, but after the Biden administration took office, appointed FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan filed a more detailed revised complaint, which Khan later referred to in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, describing Meta's $450 million settlement proposal as "delusional." Meta, for its part, adamantly denies all allegations. Company spokeswoman Dani Lever said Meta was ready to win in court, stressing that it faces stiff competition from YouTube, X (formerly Twitter) and other platforms: "The FTC is trying to prove to the court an argument that even every 17-year-old in the United States knows is ridiculous — that Instagram doesn't compete with TikTok." We have not shied away from explaining why it makes no sense for the FTC to file such a lawsuit, but the FTC still warns of the seriousness of the antitrust law, with the toughest penalties likely to include the forced divestiture of Instagram and WhatsApp, which would completely rewrite the landscape of the social media industry. Although the long-term legal battle has put pressure on the company's reputation and resources, and last night Meta's share price fell 1.87% (META -1.87%) on the day, which may partly reflect market concerns about trial uncertainty, and Facebook will report on it in the future Former Meta employees share: A guide to investing in meme chaos Meta abolished third-party fact-checking and replaced X's "community notes" to curry favor with Trump? Experts worry that fake news may be more indiscriminate The former head of Facebook Coin broke the news that "the inside story of the death of Meta stablecoins": 100% is political killing "Zuckerberg is finished! Antitrust settlement failed "FTC to fine $30 billion", WSJ: Meta only wants to pay 450 million magnesium, even IG can't afford it" This article was first published in BlockTempo's "Dynamic Trend - The Most Influential Blockchain News Media".