Facebook Overpaid FTC Fine By $5 BILLION in a Quid Pro Quo to Protect Zuckerberg

From Forbes:

To shield Mark Zuckerberg from personal liability in a 2019 settlement over the company’s role in a massive privacy breach, Facebook paid $4.9 billion more than an initial fine sought by the Federal Trade Commission, according to shareholder lawsuits first reported by Politico. 

The FTC investigated Facebook for allegedly failing to protect users’ data from being collected by the company Cambridge Analytica, which used the data to target voters for Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

The company paid the agency $5 billion to settle the complaint—about 50 times more than the roughly $107 million that Facebook’s lawyers estimate the FTC could have fined them, according to two lawsuits led by pension funds that were filed in August [Doug here: In an obvious quid pro quo bribe to the FTC to look the other way!!]

In exchange, shareholders allege, the agency agreed to keep Zuckerberg—who they say had been personally named in a draft complaint the FTC sent to Facebook—out of the final settlement, protecting him from being personal liability for “failing to oversee privacy at Facebook.”

The lawsuits were made public Tuesday, Politico reported, and also protected Zuckerberg or COO Sheryl Sandberg from being deposed.

“Zuckerberg, Sandberg, and other Facebook directors agreed to authorize a multi-billion settlement with the FTC as an express quid pro quo to protect Zuckerberg from being named in the FTC’s complaint, made subject to personal liability, or even required to sit for a deposition,” the shareholders alleged in one lawsuit.

This is obviously a massive BRIBE to pay off the government for protecting Zuck.  $5 Billion here, $5 billion there....  MUST. PROTECT. ZUCK.   What a disgusting person, what a disgusting company and WHAT A DISGUSTING GOVERNMENT.