Facebook m-cap over $1 trillion after court dismisses antitrust lawsuits

Facebook’s market cap zoomed past $1 trillion for the first time after a US judge on Monday dismissed federal and state antitrust lawsuits against the social media giant. Facebook’s shares rose more than 4 per cent after the ruling, pushing the company’s m-cap to new highs. As on Monday’s close, Facebook’s m-cap was at $1.008 trillion.

The Mark Zuckerberg-helmed company is the fifth company to reach $1 trillion. Apple Inc reached the milestone three years ago, followed by Microsoft Corp, Amazon Inc, and Google parent Alphabet Inc. However, Facebook that was co-founded by Zuckerberg in 2004 at Harvard University is the youngest -- 17 years -- to reach $1 trillion.

The antitrust lawsuits sought to establish that Facebook has monopoly in social media and force it to sell Instagram and WhatsApp. The judge ruled that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) failed to meet the burden for establishing that Facebook has monopoly.

The dismissal is the first major blow to state and federal lawsuits against the Big Tech firms. The state wants to rein in the alleged abuse of market power wielded by the companies.

"Although the court does not agree with all of Facebook's contentions here, it ultimately concurs that the agency's complaint is legally insufficient and must therefore be dismissed,” stated the judge.

The judge also dismissed another lawsuit filed by multiple US states in December and said that they had waited too long and cannot challenge acquisition from so long ago.

The FTC is likely to file a new complaint by July 29.

Meanwhile, Facebook, that had asked for the lawsuits to be dismissed last year, welcomed the ruling. A Facebook spokesperson said: "We are pleased that today’s decisions recognise the defects in the government complaints filed against Facebook."

The FTC and a big group of states filed separate lawsuits last year that accused Facebook of breaking antitrust law to keep smaller competitors at bay by snapping up rivals, such as its 2012 acquisition of Instagram for $1 billion and of WhatsApp in 2014 for $19 billion. The FTC said that Facebook demonstrated anti-competitive behaviour and that the company’s size has resulted in consumer harm, including reduced product quality.

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