Meta Platforms (META) is preparing for the start of a courtroom antitrust battle Monday with the US government in a case that could force Mark Zuckerberg to break up his $1.3 trillion empire and sell one of its crown jewels: Instagram.
If Zuckerberg is not able to convince President Trump to settle before the trial begins in a Washington, D.C., court before US judge James Boasberg, Meta will become the second Silicon Valley giant in two years to face off against the government’s antitrust watchdogs.
The first was Alphabet's Google (GOOG, GOOGL), which battled the Justice Department in court during parts of 2023 and 2024. Federal judge Amit Mehta ruled last August that Google illegally monopolized online markets for "general search" and "general search text.”
The final decision on what happens to Google's $2 trillion empire will be determined this year in a separate "remedies" phase of the search trial. Trump's DOJ has stuck to a Biden-era request to break up Google, calling for divestment of its Chrome browser, while standing down on a push for the tech giant to sell off its AI investments.There could be more clashes to come. Federal prosecutors are still working up antitrust cases in pre-trial phases against Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), and Microsoft (MSFT).
The DOJ has also alleged Google illegally monopolized the online advertising technology market in a separate antitrust trial still awaiting a judge's decision.
'It's better to buy than to compete'
The government's case against Meta centers on the Federal Trade Commission’s claims that its leading social media platform, Facebook, used monopoly power to buy up, rather than compete with, smaller rival social media companies.
Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion and WhatsApp in 2014 for $19 billion. Both mergers were given a green light by the FTC, following reviews.
"[It] is better to buy than compete," Zuckerberg allegedly wrote in an internal company email in 2008, according to the government's case.