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Zuckerberg in Court: Cambridge Analytica Trial Explained
Jul 22, 2025
Our video dives into the Cambridge Analytica scandal's trial against Mark Zuckerberg and Meta executives. We explore the core issues, shareholder accusations, and the unprecedented nature of this Delaware court case. Learn about Zuckerberg's shift and Meta's AI investments. #Meta #MarkZuckerberg #CambridgeAnalytica #DataPrivacy #TechLaw #ShareholderLawsuit #DelawareCourt #AI #TechNews #BusinessNews
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0:00
The trial is underway. What is the the
0:02
context and the basis of the trial?
0:04
Who's involved? What do we need to know?
0:06
And this is a a case that is not just
0:08
about privacy, but it is about power.
0:11
Mark Zuckerberg is expected to testify
0:13
alongside um former COO Cheryl Sandberg
0:16
and board members about the Cambridge
0:18
Analytica scandal, which has had quite a
0:20
long shadow over Meta. But in this case,
0:23
Meta is not a defendant. actually just
0:26
the executives and the board members are
0:27
and the shareholders in this case are
0:29
looking to hold them financially
0:31
accountable for the fallout of that
0:33
scandal.
0:34
Okay, I history is important here. Like
0:36
earlier in my career, Cambridge
0:37
Analytica scandal was a big story. What
0:39
are the basics of it that our audience
0:41
who may or may not know need to know?
0:43
Yes. Years ago, this was a case where
0:45
Cambridge Analytica firm had harvested
0:46
data of millions of Facebook users um
0:50
inappropriately. This firm had ties to
0:52
political operations. the Trump
0:55
campaign. Um, and ultimately Facebook
0:58
had to pay a multi-billion dollar
1:00
settlement to the FTC for that data
1:02
breach.
1:03
Okay. What are the shareholders actually
1:05
accusing the specific executives of
1:07
then? If it's not the company that's a
1:09
defendant and it's those key names, what
1:11
is it the shareholders want?
1:13
Yeah, negligence. Um, a lack of
1:15
oversight over over the company's
1:17
actions during that time. Now remember,
1:19
Mark Zuckerberg has total control over
1:22
the company via his voting power. He has
1:24
the majority control over votes um and
1:27
essentially can set company direction.
1:28
And shareholders here are saying that
1:31
these executives didn't do their
1:33
appropriate duty, didn't follow FTC
1:35
orders, and allowed this breach to
1:37
happen knowing that there were certain
1:39
risks at hand.
1:40
I feel like um the there is a lot of
1:43
litigation going on with Meta. uh it's
1:45
hard to distinguish and and and work out
1:48
all these different paths. This one's
1:50
happening in Delaware.
1:53
Why is it happening now? Again, like I
1:55
reflect that the Cambridge Analytica
1:57
scandal was more than a decade ago,
1:59
something like that.
2:00
Yeah. So, it's great that you bring up
2:02
Delaware because what makes this an
2:04
unprecedented case is it's the first
2:06
time we're seeing a CEO and board
2:07
members actually go to court. Usually,
2:10
these kinds of things are settled um or
2:12
or negotiated behind closed doors. And
2:14
we're actually seeing this trial take
2:16
place in Delaware. And it really has
2:18
ramifications for all companies out
2:20
there, whether or not uh Mark Zuckerberg
2:23
and other executives are having to pay
2:26
billions in dollars for this scandal.
2:28
Now, one thing we need to remember is
2:31
this is a really hard case to win. These
2:32
Carmark claims, the the battle is uphill
2:36
and it could set the direction for
2:37
whether Meta ultimately reinccorporates
2:40
outside of Delaware in the future. So
2:41
Riley Griffin uh of Bloomberg News and
2:44
Bloomberg Tech, you're kind of like six
2:46
months into this beat of covering meta
2:48
and so much has happened in the first
2:49
half of the year. What I what I would
2:51
like to get from you is is Mark
2:52
Zuckerberg himself. Like he actually
2:54
does appear and and gives testimony in
2:56
the context of litigation or if it is a
2:58
political hearing, something like that,
3:00
he often will stand up and speak. Right.
3:02
Yes. And that's an evolution of his
3:04
career. What we've learned from our
3:05
reporting and my reporting over the last
3:07
six months has been that Mark Zuckerberg
3:09
really wants to to take legal fights to
3:12
court. Now, this is no longer a time
3:14
where he wants to just settle, but he
3:16
wants to set the precedent that Meta can
3:18
win these cases. And in this case, he
3:20
can.
3:21
You wrote an extensive and deep piece in
3:24
Business Week about the kind of
3:26
magnification Yeah. of of Mark
3:28
Zuckerberg. I really encourage the
3:30
audience to go out and read it. But you
3:32
you mentioned there the evolution of his
3:33
career. There's also been an evolution
3:35
of him um personally, politically. Could
3:38
you summarize what you learned through
3:40
that?
3:40
No apologies. This is something from
3:43
him. That's his vibe. That is his vibe.
3:45
He has said this publicly. He said it
3:47
privately. He is done apologizing for
3:50
scandals of the past and ready to move
3:52
on and really dominate the space. And
3:53
that demands winning whether it's on the
3:55
legal front or politically speaking. So
3:57
the big news this week in in Meta's
4:00
world has been this commitment for
4:02
massive massive scale data center. You
4:05
know I I broke the story this morning.
4:06
We're going to do it later in the show
4:07
that XAI is looking at Saudi Arabia
4:09
because you need the capital, the space,
4:11
the energy, but what Meta is doing, you
4:14
know, the the the image that they give
4:15
is it could cover Manhattan, the scale
4:17
of what they want to do. Summarize it as
4:19
best you can and and and and what our
4:21
read on it was.
4:22
Yeah. So hundreds of billions of
4:24
dollars. That's how much Meta is
4:25
expecting to spend on this AI race to
4:27
beat out the competition
4:28
over time.
4:29
Over time. Over time. We know that this
4:30
year um as of the last quarter results,
4:34
they're expecting to spend, you know, as
4:36
much as 72 billion in capital
4:38
expenditures, a lot on data centers, as
4:40
you mentioned. And we're seeing $200
4:43
million pay packages for for AI talent.
4:45
They're poaching from open AI. I mean,
4:47
this is a relentless race, and Meta is
4:50
putting all the capital it has on hand
4:52
to win
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