META.US
id: 314
Facebook (META) $100 Million SEC Fair Fund
N.D. California
Court3:19-cv-04241
Case number01/28/2016
Class period Start03/19/2018
Class period End11/30/2022
Claim deadlineFacebook(META) settled $100 million with shareholders via SEC arranged Fair Fund.
According to the SEC’s complaint, in 2014 and 2015, the now-defunct advertising and data analytics company, Cambridge Analytica, paid an academic researcher, through a company he controlled, to collect and transfer data from Facebook to create personality scores for approximately 30 million Americans.
In addition to the personality scores, the researcher, in violation of Facebook’s policies, also transferred to Cambridge Analytica the underlying Facebook user data, including names, genders, locations, birthdays, and “page likes.” Cambridge Analytica used this information in connection with its political advertising activities.
The complaint alleged that during this two-year period, Facebook had no specific policies or procedures in place to assess the results of their investigation for the purposes of making accurate disclosures in Facebook’s public filings.
The complaint further alleged that Facebook discovered the misuse of its users’ information in 2015, but did not correct its existing disclosure for more than two years. Instead, Facebook continued to tell investors that “our users’ data may be improperly accessed, used or disclosed.” According to the SEC, Facebook reinforced this false impression when it told news reporters who were investigating Cambridge Analytica’s use of Facebook user data that it had discovered no evidence of wrongdoing.
When the company finally disclosed the incident in March 2018, its stock price dropped.
Case Status
Disbursement
Alleged Offence
Misleading Statements,
Failure to Disclose,
Omissions
Suspected Party
Directors,
Management
Security Type
Stocks
Trade Direction
Long
Payout per Share
2.29
Plaintiffs
SEC
Judge
Hon. James Donato
Administrator
RCB Fund Services
Court hearing date
08/22/2022
Trades matching type
FIFO
Disbursement date
04/26/2022
+$100,000,000
Cash Settlement Amount