Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other members of the company’s board have reached an out-of-court settlement in a class-action lawsuit filed by shareholders related to decisions made following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, AFP reported.

The lawsuit began with defendants accused of paying an excessive amount—$5 billion—to the U.S. government in 2019 to settle allegations of privacy violations. According to the plaintiff, the aim was for Zuckerberg to avoid personal liability.

The settlement was confirmed by sources familiar with the case, though no details were disclosed.

The case attracted additional attention as Mark Andreessen—one of Silicon Valley’s most influential venture capitalists and a Meta board member—was scheduled to testify on Thursday. Zuckerberg himself was to appear in court in Wilmington, Delaware. Other expected witnesses included Peter Thiel and Meta’s former COO Sheryl Sandberg.

Cambridge Analytica was a consulting firm that improperly harvested personal data from millions of Facebook users, which was then used for political advertising—primarily around the 2016 U.S. elections and the Brexit referendum.

The scandal placed Zuckerberg and Facebook under significant political pressure and led to regulatory changes and increased scrutiny over how tech companies handle personal data.

Shareholders alleged that the board struck the deal with the government to protect Zuckerberg and that some members engaged in insider trading shortly before the scandal became public. | BGNES