Facebook’s value tops $1 trillion after judge throws out US lawsuits
Facebook last night joined an exclusive club of companies worth more than $1 trillion after a US judge dismissed two antitrust lawsuits brought against the social media company.
A federal judge ruled that the legal challenges, which were brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and a coalition of states, were “legally insufficient” and did not provide enough evidence to prove that Facebook was a monopoly.
The ruling dealt a sharp blow to efforts by US regulators to curb the power of tech giants.
Shares in Facebook climbed more than four per cent on the legal reprieve, pushing the company’s market valuation to above $1 trillion.
It is the latest tech giant to pass the milestone after Amazon, Microsoft and Apple.
However, while the ruling dismissed the complaint it did not dismiss the case, meaning the FTC could refile another complaint.
“These allegations — which do not even provide an estimated actual figure or range for Facebook’s market share at any point over the past 10 years — ultimately fall short of plausibly establishing that Facebook holds market power,” said US district judge James Boasberg.
The US government and 48 states and districts brought the lawsuit in December, accusing the tech giant of abusing its market power to crush rivals and sought remedies that could including a forced spin-off of Instagram and Whatsapp.
The FTC had accused Facebook of pursuing a “systematic strategy” to fend off competition, including by buying smaller rivals such as Instagram and Whatsapp in 2012 and 2014 respectively.
New York attorney general Letitia James said when filing the suit that Facebook “used its monopoly power to crush smaller rivals and snuff out competition, all at the expense of everyday users”.
Judge Boasberg dismissed the separate complaint made by the state attorneys general as well.
In a statement Facebook said: “We are pleased that today’s decisions recognise the defects in the government complaints filed against Facebook.
“We compete fairly every day to earn people’s time and attention and will continue to deliver great products for the people and businesses that use our services.”