Stocks
New Mexico judge orders Meta to pay $25 billion in Cambridge Analytica-era privacy case; Meta says it will appeal
The penalty, set hours before Meta's third-quarter results, is not mentioned in the earnings release and is more than double the $9.89 billion legal charge Meta took in the quarter.
HedgeWeekly News Desk ·
Judge Francis Mathew of New Mexico's First Judicial District Court on Wednesday ordered Meta Platforms to pay $25 billion after a jury found last month that the company had misled users about data privacy. Attorney General Raúl Torrez brought the case in 2021 over practices tied to the Cambridge Analytica affair, in which data from as many as 87 million Facebook users was obtained through a third-party app without their consent.
Jurors examined 29 Meta statements, found 26 of them misleading and counted more than 43 million violations of the state's Unfair Practices Act. At the law's maximum of $5,000 per violation, the theoretical ceiling was about $219.5 billion. The state had asked for $35 billion to $40 billion; Meta argued that anything above roughly $3.4 billion would breach due process. If upheld, the money goes to a state education fund, and interest accrues while any appeal runs.
Meta's chief legal officer, C.J. Mahoney, said the ruling makes it "all but impossible" to do business in New Mexico and that the company expects to win on appeal. New Mexico was the only state to take these claims to trial, according to Axios.
For investors, the timing matters: Meta released third-quarter results after Wednesday's close, and the release does not mention the New Mexico judgment. The only litigation charge it discloses is $9.89 billion tied to an August agreement with 52 attorneys general on youth-related claims, which provides for payments of up to about $18.59 billion. The $25 billion award equals roughly 30% of the $82.45 billion in cash and marketable securities Meta held at September 30, in a quarter when free cash flow was minus $2.12 billion and buybacks were paused. Watch Meta's 10-Q for any accrual or loss-range disclosure on the case, the appeal timetable, and the youth-related trials Meta says are scheduled in the US in the coming months.
Sources
- Axios: Meta ordered to pay $25 billion over Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal
- ABC7: Judge orders Meta to pay $25 billion for violating New Mexico law
- Fox Business: Meta ordered to pay $25B after jury finds it misled users
- Yahoo Finance: Judge orders Meta to pay $25 billion in privacy case
- Meta Platforms Q3 2026 results (SEC Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1)