Facebook's board was not trying to protect founder Mark Zuckerberg in 2019 when it agreed to pay a $5 billion regulatory fine to resolve claims over its privacy practices; instead it focused on growth, a former company director testified on Wednesday.
Jeffrey Zients, White House chief of staff under President Joe Biden and a Meta Platforms director for two years starting in May 2018, was the first defendant to take the stand on Wednesday in the $8 billion non-jury trial before Kathaleen McCormick, chief judge of the Delaware Chancery Court. Facebook changed its name to Meta in 2021.
Zients testified that the Federal Trade Commission initially sought "tens of billions of dollars" but was willing to accept $5 billion and the company felt it was important to reach a deal that did not name Zuckerberg as a defendant.
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