US media: Meta antitrust case "bargaining" negotiations failed

According to the Wall Street Journal, Meta Platforms (META. O) CEO Mark Zuckerberg called the head of the US FTC (FTC) in late March and made a condition: Meta would pay $450 million to settle a long-running antitrust case that was about to go to trial. The bid was well below the $30 billion the FTC had requested. During the call, Zuckerberg sounded confident that President Trump would back him at the FTC, according to people familiar with the matter. FTC Chairperson Andrew Ferguson did not consider the offer credible, and he was not prepared to accept any settlement below $18 billion and a consent decree. Meta also raised its offer to close to $1 billion at one point as the trial approached, people familiar with the matter said. The former chairperson of the Federal Trade Commission said the company's proposed $450 million settlement was "delusional."