Four particularly stressed oligarchs are getting a lot of negative attention this week as Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta faces a $1.4 trillion lawsuit, Sam Altman’s OpenAI is bleeding talent and their IPO seems an ever more remote possibility, and Larry and David Ellison are in a full-on media war with 12 attorneys general over their attempted merger of Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery.
Let’s start with the least likable of the bunch…just kidding, who could dislike any of these charmers?
Meta’s Legal Jeopardy Multiplies
But seriously, Mark Zuckerberg has to be one of the least sympathetic characters in American business history so let’s start with a quick celebration of his current legal troubles.
Let’s use the Gray Lady’s coverage for the basics:
Meta on Tuesday again defended itself over claims it addicted young people to social media, this time in a federal trial brought by states seeking roughly $200 billion in penalties and changes to the company’s platforms.
In opening statements, California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey accused the social media giant, which owns Instagram and Facebook, of harming children with technology designed to be addictive like cigarettes.
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The suit charges the company with violating federal child privacy laws and state consumer protection laws.“Hook the users. Hold them for as long as they can. Harvest their data. Hide the truth from the public when making public statements,” Megan O’Neill, a lawyer for the states, said during her opening statement. “Meta’s business model worked especially well for kids.”